Despite European sanctions, cutting economic ties with Russia is easier said than done. Since the invasion of Ukraine, trade between Belgium and Russia has increased by 81 percent. The main reason: oil and gas.
The sanctions made it a lot more difficult for Russia to import goods. This is also reflected in the trade relationship with Belgium. Since the invasion, the average monthly import from our country has fallen by 27 percent. That calculated ‘The New York Times’ based on data from the specialized website Observatory of Economic Complexity.
On the other hand, it is striking that the export from Russia to Belgium has increased by 130 percent. This puts our country in a list together with India, Brazil, Turkey and China. The latter two countries also resulted in more imports to Russia at the same time.
On ‘The newspapaer’ the Foreign Trade Agency was unable to confirm these figures. It did share, however, that imports from Russia have doubled compared to last year, in the period from March to July. More was spent on oil and gas in particular: from 1,378 million euros in 2021 to 4.416 million euros this year.
According to the Agency, that is the fault of the higher prices. Professor Thijs Van de Graaf of Ghent University and specialist in energy policy and international politics also notes at ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ that the volume of Russian liquefied gas has increased since the Russian attack on Ukraine. Gas is not subject to European sanctions.
The data that ‘The New York Times’ analyzed are historical data and are therefore somewhat behind reality. We can also expect that trade with Russia will decrease in the future. “We will see a different picture next year,” researcher Alexander Gabuev told the American newspaper. He points out that Russian exports will decrease if European countries use other energy sources and impose even more sanctions.
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