Russian-Japanese Trade Slashed Down by Five Percent in 2002

The volume of Russian-Japanese trade reduced by five percent in 2002 year on year. The Japanese finance ministry reported that in absolute terms this index made up 527 billion yens ($4.4 billion) - by 29 billion yens less than in 2001. The decrease in trade volumes was caused by the reduction of imports from Russia - from 468 billion yens in 2001 to 408 billion yens last year.

The deliveries from Japan, on the contrary, considerably increased - from 87 to 118 billion yens ($980 million). The growth rates of power engineering goods and equipment deliveries were especially high. The export of computers to Russia increased by 140 percent and of TV sets - by 144 percent. Japan exported 50,848 cars to Russia over 2002, a 49-percent increase year on year.

The volume of Russian-Japanese trade amounts to less than a half of trade turnover between Russia and China. RIA Novosti already reported that the volume of Russian-Chinese trade over the 10 months of last year increased, compared to the same period of 2001, by 18 percent to reach $9.8 billion.