Trade between Russia and China, which became a key pillar of the Russian economy under Western sanctions, began to decline in 2025 for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
From January to November, China cut purchases of Russian crude oil by 7.6% to 91.5 million tonnes. In value terms, exports fell by 20% due to lower prices and larger discounts.
Imports of Russian petroleum products declined by 3% for light distillates and by 33% for heavy distillates. In monetary terms, shipments dropped by 33% and 40%, respectively.
Russian coal exports to China fell by 11% in volume terms to 72.4 million tonnes. Timber supplies decreased by 10% in physical terms and by 8.7% in value. Purchases of ferrous metals collapsed by 63% to 245,000 tonnes.
Despite a 12% increase in liquefied natural gas exports to China in physical terms, their value fell by 1.8%.
In addition, for the first time since the war began, shipments of Chinese goods to Russia also declined—by 11.8% to $91.7 billion. Imports of Chinese vehicles were cut in half.
In the first year of the war, Russia–China trade grew by 30%, and by another 30% in 2023. In 2024, growth slowed to 2%, while in 2025 a downturn began. As a result, Russia’s share in China’s exports fell from 3.2% to 2.7%, pushing Russia down to ninth place among China’s largest buyers.
The contraction in trade continues despite appeals by Russian President Vladimir Putin, voiced during his four-day visit to Beijing in August.
Analysts note that a 1% decline in aggregate demand in China reduces Russia’s GDP by 0.1%, while a 30% drop in Chinese and Indian purchases of Russian oil would lead to a 1.6% contraction of the Russian economy.
Thus, despite Kremlin statements about a “strategic partnership without limits” with China, experts stress that the relationship remains deeply asymmetric. For Russia, China is a key market for raw materials—primarily oil and gas—whereas for China, Russia remains a relatively small export market.
Ukraine has secured $690 million in grant funding from Japan and Canada under the G7’s ERA mechanism, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reported. “The funds have been transferred to the general fund of Ukraine’s state budget and will be directed toward financing priority government expenditures, including pension payments and social support programs for the […]
Russia’s external government debt reached $61.97 billion as of February 1, 2026, the highest figure in the past 20 years, according to data from the Ministry of Finance of Russia, reported by The Moscow Times. As of January 1, 2006, Russia’s external public debt stood at $76.5 billion, but by 2007 it had fallen to […]
The United States has issued a general license to Reliance Industries Ltd, allowing its refinery to purchase Venezuelan oil directly without violating sanctions. This was reported by Reuters, citing its sources. The license is expected to accelerate Venezuela’s oil exports and reduce crude costs for the operator of the world’s largest refining complex. The general […]
U.S.-based company Axiom Space, which supplies spacesuits for lunar missions for NASA and is building a successor to the International Space Station, has raised $350 million in new funding. This was reported by CNBC. The funding round was led by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and Type One Ventures, with participation from Hungarian IT company 4iG […]
Saudi Arabia’s Midad Energy may acquire all foreign assets of the Russian oil company Lukoil, which has come under U.S. sanctions. This was reported by Reuters, citing sources. According to the report, a preliminary agreement of intent was signed in late January amid what sources described as “intense competition with rivals.” Midad Energy has agreed […]
Against the backdrop of sanctions and mounting economic problems, companies in Russia have begun reporting losses on a massive scale. From January to November 2025, 18,200 organizations posted losses totaling a record 7.5 trillion rubles, according to Russian media citing data from Rosstat. For comparison, business losses amounted to 7 trillion rubles over the same […]
The United States is actively increasing corn exports and strengthening its position in key markets — particularly in the European Union — gradually displacing Ukraine. This was stated by Viktoriia Blazhko, Head of Editorial Content and Analytics at ASAP Agri, in a comment to Latifundist.com. Between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, the United States increased […]
Countries of OPEC+ are planning to resume boosting oil production as early as April, according to Reuters, citing three sources within the oil cartel. According to the sources, the decision will be discussed ahead of the OPEC+ meeting on March 1, involving Saudi Arabia, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, and Oman.The move […]
India’s largest buyer of Russian oil, Reliance Industries, has shifted to purchasing crude from Middle Eastern countries and the United States following the U.S. sanctions imposed on Lukoil, Rosneft, and their subsidiaries, Bloomberg reported, citing traders. India has begun purchasing several grades of crude oil from Iraq and Qatar, including Saudi Khafji, Iraqi Basrah Medium, […]
Next
For the first time, the National Bank has identified a list of critical infrastructure facilities in the banking system of Ukraine. This was reported on the regulator’s website on Friday, April 23. It is noted that such powers of the NBU are provided by the Law on Basic Principles of Cyber Security of Ukraine. “Objects […]
Next
Ukraine’s steel industry risks losing billions of dollars and a key export market due to the full implementation of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It is noted that the new environmental levy has already begun to apply to Ukraine. And despite the fact that the country is entitled to a deferral, it has […]
Next
Customers of the Colonial Pipeline pipeline network, which was restarted after the cyber attack, are having trouble. In particular, they may not reserve fuel supplies, update applications or perform other online access activities. This was announced on Tuesday, May 18, citing anonymous sources among shippers, Bloomberg reports. The company itself said in a comment to […]
Next
The taxi service of the international Chinese company DiDi Chuxing intends to conduct the initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As reported by Reuters on Tuesday, citing sources, this may happen in the first half of 2021. By the time of the IPO, the estimated value of DiDi will be more […]
Next
The Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on Wednesday, August 4, approved an energy security strategy. During the presentation of the document, Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said that the strategy identifies, in particular, 29 threats to energy security, the key of which are cyber threats, Russian aggression, depreciation of fixed assets, lack of energy reserves, […]
Next
Enterprises and institutions of the space industry of Ukraine increased the net loss to 1.038 billion hryvnias from January to September 2020. This is 23 times more than in the first nine months of last year. In 2019, for the same period, the net loss amounted to 44.3 million hryvnias, according to the press service […]
Next
Tesla shares reached their new peak on Thursday jumping 7.95% to a price of $1208.66. The manufacturer of electric cars Tesla was rated as the world most expensive automaker (in terms of market capitalization), overtaking the world leader Toyota Motor. Since the beginning of the year, Tesla shares have risen by 189% having climbed 166% […]
Next
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has announced the introduction of five additional trains that will operate across different regions of Ukraine, the company’s press service reported. Additional trains scheduled for this autumn include: No. 249/250 Kyiv – LvivDepartures from Kyiv and Lviv: August 27, 28. No. 220/219 Kyiv – DniproDepartures from Kyiv and Dnipro: August 25, 28, 30, […]
Next
The American producer of vegetable meat products Impossible Foods expects that investors will estimate it at $ 10 billion during the listing. The company plans to go public this year, but has not yet decided how to become a public company, reports Reuters, citing knowledgeable interlocutors. According to them, the company is now exploring the […]
Next
Ukraine plans to attract $ 5 billion in investments this year. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Iryna Novikova stated this at the Ukraine 30 business forum. The Ministry of Economy believes that this amount of investment will be able to attract thanks to concessions, support for large investment projects and industrial parks. Thus, Novikova noted […]
Next
Ukraine can produce an average of about 5.5 billion cubic meters of “green” hydrogen annually. This was announced on Monday, March 29, by the State Agency for Energy Efficiency. Experts of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe with the support of the Ministry of Energy and the State Agency conducted studies of the potential […]
Next
The Antimonopoly Committee drew the line under the proceedings between the Ukrainian “daughter” of the German firm Rehau and its namesake – the Kyiv production company Rehau. Both work in the window market under the Rehau brand. By the decision of the AMCU the Rehau production company is obliged within a month to abandon from […]
Next
On January 12, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the winner of the tender to develop the Dobra lithium deposit under a production sharing agreement (PSA) mechanism. This was announced by Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. “A pilot project for the development of mineral resources — the Dobra lithium deposit site in the Kirovohrad region,” she said. […]
Next
The downturn in Ukraine’s economy in the first four months of 2021 slowed to 0.2%, according to a preliminary estimate by the Ministry of Economy. “The Ministry of Economy estimates a slight reduction in GDP at 0.2% (down 2% in the first quarter of 2021 by 4.9% over the four months of 2020),” the statement […]
Next
The Danish Board of Appeal for the Environment and Foodstuffs has revoked the permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency for the construction of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline. “On July 12, 2019, the Danish Environmental Protection Authority issued an environmental permit for the construction of the Baltic Pipe. On May 31, 2021, the Environmental […]
Next
