MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2020) The trade between Switzerland and Russia has been on the rise as the result for 2019 indicated a year-on-year increase of almost 15 percent, Tobias Privitelli, the deputy head of the Swiss diplomatic mission to Russia, told Sputnik.
"[In] 2019 the bilateral trade between Switzerland and Russia reached a volume of 3.57 billion CHF [$3.6 billion] which is a plus of 14.6 percent in comparison to the previous year. This growth is primarily connected to a steep increase in Swiss exports to Russia of 23.6 percent. With 3.12 billion CHF, Swiss exports to Russia have now reached 99 percent of the pre-crisis level (i.e. 2013)," Privitelli said.
The Swiss exports to Russia mainly include pharmaceutical products, machinery and electronics to Russia, according to the diplomat.
It is too early to say how the bilateral trade will be affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the falling oil prices, Privitelli noted.
"Either way, we can be confident that at some point in time trade will pick up again. If the previous trend of yearly increases in our export figures is any measure to go by, then we are looking at continued increase in goods and hopefully also investments between our two countries," the Swiss diplomat added.
Privitelli told Sputnik in May that the Swiss-Russia trade had experienced a 13 percent decline in 2018, however Switzerland's exports to Russia had increased by over 10 percent the same year.
