Russia reports rise in foreign trade

Russia's foreign trade stood at $514.5bn in January-November 2007, 22.8 percent greater than in the same period a year earlier, the Russian Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported today, citing the Bank of Russia's data. Foreign trade surplus fell 8.5 percent to $118.4bn, while exports increased 15.4 percent to $316.5bn and imports surged 36.7 percent to $198.1bn. Trade with countries outside the CIS grew 24.8 percent to $417.63bn, while trade with the CIS went up 26.9 percent to $73.923bn.