State Statistics Committee reports upsurge in Russia's foreign trade

The volume of Russia's foreign trade surged 25.6 percent in January 2003 compared to January 2002 to $17.4bn, the Russian State Statistics Committee reported. It increased 16.5 percent against December 2002. In particular, Russian exports amounted to $10.9bn in January 2003, which was 16.4 percent compared to December 2002 and 34.6 percent compared to January 2002. Imports totaled $6.5bn last month, a rise of 16.7 percent against the last month of the previous year and 13 percent compared to January 2002.