[ad_1]
The trade between Russia and Albania seems to have somewhat resisted the sanctions, as it can be seen that in the first 6 months of 2022, imports in quantity from Russia have decreased by 60 percent in the first 6 months, according to official data of INSTANT.
In terms of value, the decrease was somewhat lower by about 19%, as the prices of goods purchased in Russia have increased significantly this year, especially after the war in Ukraine.
In contrast, Albanian exports to Russia, although of a very modest value, with only 12 million ALL, have increased by about 55% this year. In January-June 2022, they reached 12.3 million ALL from 7.9 million ALL in the same period of the previous year.
After the war in Ukraine started at the end of February this year, Russia was involved in a series of sanctions from other European countries, most of which were in the field of trade. But sources from Customs claimed that wheat, which is the most imported product from Russia, has continued normally since the Albanian government has not included it in trade sanctions.
More detailed data show that the decrease in import quantities comes mainly from the smaller quantities of wheat and oil.
Albanian traders, afraid of the effects of the war, have tried to diversify their sources of supply. A quantity of wheat that came from Russia is now bought in Serbia and oil from other European markets.
Before the war, Albania imported from Russia about 40 percent of the quantities of wheat and 10 percent of oil.
In the first 6 months of 2022, 27% of the total amount of wheat was imported from Russia. Imports of wheat from Russia in the first half of the year have decreased by 35% compared to last year, but they had an important position in the total imports of cereals with 27%, from about 40% that they were last year.
More detailed data shows that since the start of the war, imports of cereals dominated by wheat encountered difficulties during the month of April, while throughout May imports of Russian wheat remained in normal quantities.
A kilogram of wheat from Russia was imported on average this year at 43 lek which was last year with a 38% increase compared to the same period of 2021.
A ton of wheat on the stock exchange is trading around $826 with an annual increase of 50%. The highest level was marked in March, just after the start of the war in Ukraine, with over 1,300 dollars per ton, setting a record since 2008 when the world faced the global economic crisis.
High cereal prices around the world have raised concerns about a food crisis in lower-income countries. Albania as one of the countries with the highest levels of relative poverty in Europe, as about a quarter of the country’s population lives on less than 5 dollars a day./Monitor/
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
