MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2020) The trade and business activities between the United States and Russia will likely decline by the end of 2020 as a result of the COVID-related economic slowdown, Alexis Rodzianko, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham), told Sputnik.
"The US-Russian trade has never been a major trade item but, for example, one of the big businesses - a member of AmCham - is in the civil aviation field, they produce airplanes and there are just fewer airplanes being bought and fewer airplanes being produced. For sure, there is some reduction in trade as a result of the COVID-19," Rodzianko said, likely referring to Boeing, which is a member of AmCham in Russia.
For example, the transportation business does not expect flights to return to the levels of 2019 for three years from now, the executive noted.
Russia, which due to sanctions imposed by the West had to redefine its economy, has proved resilient despite the global economic slowdown, according to the president of AmCham in Russia.
"COVID-19 has affected the whole world, but it probably has affected Russia a little bit less. It seems like the economy is coming back, but Russia's major exports - oil and gas - were affected by the falling demand. Obviously, the oil and gas prices were affected, and therefore business was impacted in Russia," Rodzianko added.
In 2019, trade between Russia and the US increased by almost 5 percent year-on-year and amounted to $26.2 billion. Russia's exports to the US grew by 4.4 percent, to $13 billion, while the US exports to Russia went up by 5.3 percent to almost $13.2 billion.
