Russian exports and imports to Europe are decreasing

Sanctions lead to losses Information about Russia's current losses due to sanctions.

Russian foreign economic activity in Europe is decreasing. According to data from the customs of the Russian Federation, the export of Russian products to Europe fell by 33.8 percent to 31.7 billion dollars during the year.

At the same time, growth was recorded in other directions as well: exports to Asia increased by 8.5 percent (to 156.2 billion dollars), to America - by 14.2 percent (to 6.7 billion dollars), to Africa - by 23 .5 percent (to $12.3 billion).
Imports to Russia decreased during the year with all foreign trade partners.
Thus, deliveries from Europe decreased by 14.1 percent (to 34.9 billion dollars), from America - by 15.8 percent (to 6.9 billion dollars).

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One of the largest Russian brokers closed the introduction and withdrawal of yuan from accounts.
From August 13, the broker "BCS World Investments" will suspend the introduction and withdrawal of yuan from brokerage accounts. The broker explained this decision by complicating the calculations between participants in exchange trades in Chinese yuan and by increasing the time when entering/withdrawing currency and calculating transactions. It will not be possible to withdraw yuan to accounts in all foreign banks, including BKS Bank. Also, it will not be possible to top up brokerage accounts in RMB through foreign banks and BCS Bank.
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Russian banks scramble for yuan as liquidity deficit doubles. Increasingly, US sanctions are restricting the flow of yuan into Russia, forcing local lenders to borrow the currency at a higher rate from the Central Bank. China has become Russia's main trading partner after the Kremlin was cut off from Western markets by sanctions imposed in response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Against the backdrop of "borderless friendship" between Moscow and Beijing, some $240 billion in imports and exports are now almost entirely denominated in yuan. However, there is growing evidence that Chinese banks fear being punished for indirectly financing the Russian war machine under the latest expanded US sanctions announced in June. As renminbi liquidity dries up in Russia, companies are increasingly turning to renminbi swaps with the Bank of Russia, operations previously considered prohibitively expensive. The average daily volume of yuan borrowed through swaps jumped to 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in August from 10 billion yuan in June. The Russian yuan money market has not recovered, suggesting that Russian banks are trying to find safe solutions. The Bank of Russia fills the gap that may have been left by branches of Chinese private banks in Russia. Higher yuan costs could mean less trade with China, Russia's main source of imports.
If China's exports to Russia, direct or transshipped, decline in the second half of the year, Washington could score a significant victory in the sanctions war against Russia, and the yuan's ability to serve as an alternative to the dollar would be diminished.

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The net profit of the Russian diamond mining company "Alrosi" decreased by 34 percent in the first half of the year. Consolidated turnover for the period January-June decreased by five percent. Cost of sales increased by 14 percent compared to the previous year. According to data from June 30, diamond stocks decreased by 31.9 percent compared to the same period last year, and diamond stocks decreased by 23.51 percent compared to the same period last year.
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The Russian Navy has been practicing hitting targets in Europe with missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. During the exercises, the Russian Navy practiced nuclear strikes on European countries in the event of a potential conflict with NATO. This comes from secret documents prepared between 2008 and 2014. The resulting documents, prepared for Russian officers, include a list of targets for missiles capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. In total, the maps created for the presentation show 32 targets for the Russian fleet in Europe. Russia's Baltic fleet will have to attack facilities in Norway and Germany.
The Northern Fleet, in turn, can attack defense industry facilities, including the UK's Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, where warships and submarines are built. According to the documents, the main priority in the event of a conflict with NATO is to weaken the enemy's military and economic potential. They also mention the option of a "demonstration strike" - the detonation of a nuclear weapon in a remote area to "intimidate Western countries." Such a strike should demonstrate "the availability and readiness to use high-precision non-strategic nuclear weapons." In addition, the documents emphasize the advantage of using nuclear weapons early in a conflict. It is also said that the high maneuverability of the fleet allows for sudden and massive strikes from different directions. However, it is clarified that nuclear weapons must be used in combination with other means of destruction.
Exercises of non-strategic nuclear forces, which Russia conducted in June, showed that this approach is still in line with Russian doctrine. During the exercise, the Russian military practiced loading P-270 anti-ship cruise missiles onto missile boats in Kaliningrad, where, according to NATO, stocks of tactical nuclear warheads are kept.

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The Kazakh company "Agip Caspian Sea", a "daughter" of the Italian Eni, started supplying Germany with Kazakh oil through the "Družba" oil pipeline. In June, the volume of deliveries of Eni's raw materials through this pipeline in transit through the territory of Russia amounted to about 20,000 tons. Agip Caspian Sea became the third company from Kazakhstan to export oil to Germany as part of the "Company" - after "Karachaganka Petroleum Operating" (operator in the Karachaganak field ) and Inpex North Caspian Sea ("daughter" of Japanese Inpex). Delivery of Russian oil by "Druzbo" to Germany stopped at the beginning of 2023. Russian companies cannot pump oil via this route to Germany and Poland due to EU sanctions on the northern part of the pipeline.
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Ship-to-ship loading of Russian diesel fuel is increasing in the northern part of the Aegean Sea.
Traders are moving Russian diesel cargoes to a new ship-to-ship (STS) loading point in the northern Aegean Sea, as Western sanctions apply to ships carrying fuel loaded in Russian ports.
With the European Union's full embargo on imports of Russian petroleum products coming into force in February 2023, traders have diverted diesel exports from Russian ports to Brazil, Turkey, Africa, Asia and STS loadings.
STS takeovers make it difficult for Western countries to monitor trade in Russian oil products.
In July, at least four ships with about 123,000 metric tons of diesel and liquefied gas loaded in the Russian Black Sea ports of Taman and Tuapse went for transshipment in neutral waters south of the Greek island of Chios, according to LSEG data.
According to traders and shipping companies, three more ships were loaded in Tuapse with a total of about 100,000 tons of liquefied gas in August and are heading towards the STS south of the island in the northern Aegean.
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The US is resuming uranium production in Wyoming. US company Uranium Energy said on Tuesday that it has resumed uranium production at its Christensen Ranch facility in Wyoming, with deliveries expected in November or December. Uranium is the most widely used fuel for nuclear power. According to the International Energy Agency, with the global drive for clean energy, nuclear power production could roughly double by 2050, and so could supply. With uranium prices recovering, miners plan to reopen idled mines to boost domestic supplies of fuel for nuclear reactors at a time when the country gets most of its fuel from Russia.
"U.S. production has been virtually nonexistent for many years... That situation is changing thanks to consistent and unprecedented bipartisan programs by the U.S. government designed to stimulate the growth of domestic uranium production as the foundation of a strong nuclear fuel supply chain," said Uranium Energy CEO -a.
Enriched uranium from the Christensen Ranch will be processed at the Irigaray Central Processing Plant, which is under regulatory review to increase capacity to four million pounds of triuranium oxide, a uranium compound, from 2.5 million pounds, the company said.