Year of shrinking trade relations between Greece and Russia in 2023 – At 2.5 billion euros fell imports

Imports of Russian products from Greece fell sharply in 2023 with the deteriorating policies between the West and due to the war in Ukraine. Greece, although traditionally a major importer of Russian products and energy, is in line with EU requirements to limit relations with Russia to the minimum possible, with a view to the economic and political isolation of the Putin government. After all, as it became known on Friday (22.3.2024) at the end of the EU Summit, 33 people expanded and the list of sanctions against Russians due to Alexei Navalni’s death case. Thus, according to the provisional data of ELSTAT, in 2023 the value of imports from Russia to Greece barely amounted to 2,445 billion euros, when last year it amounted to 9,334 billion euros. That is to say, an annual “deep” value of 73.8% was recorded, compared to the “jump” of 117% in 2022 of the 4,302 billion euros of the previous year. The weaker exports, however, continued to decrease by 38.4% in 2023 to 96,308 million euros, with the corresponding decrease of 24.3% last year. With regard to imports of Russian products, of the total of almost EUR 2.5 billion of 2023, the largest share is taken over by energy imports, namely oil gases and other gas hydrocarbons, the value of which has been EUR 1,503 billion throughout the year. The second product group concerns oil from oil or bituminous minerals, other than raw oils at EUR 512 million and the third category is aluminium in raw form at EUR 267 million.