According to WTO assessments, total volume of Russian imports in the first half of the year grew by 7 percent

According to the latest assessments of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the total volume of Russian imports in dollar terms grew in the first half of the year by 7 percent in comparison with the similar period of 2001.

According to the information provided to RIA Novosti in the WTO Secretariat, the situation with Russian as well as with Chinese imports, which grew by 10%, was the exception to the general tendency established in many leading global markets where significant drop of imports volume was registered.

According to the WTO data, in January-June this year American and European imports were reduced by 6% in comparison with the first half of the last year. At the same time in 2001 American and European imports were lower than in the previous year by 3.5% and 3 %, accordingly.

Japan and Latin American countries experienced the world largest reduction of imports in dollar terms, which amounted to 10%.

According to WTO experts, this tendency was caused by "the burst of the investment bubble in the sector of information and communications services, reduction of general economic activity and drop of share prices at stock markets.