Russia Remains Important Trade Partner For Austria - Ambassador

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2023) Moscow remains an important trade partner for Vienna, as the level of bilateral trade between the two countries increased by 65.4% last year compared to 2021, Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said on Tuesday.

"It would be more correct to say that Russia remains an important trading partner for Austria. By the end of 2022, our country is in their top 10, and it ranks sixth in terms of exports," Lyubinsky said in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia.

Lyubinsky noted that at the official level, at the initiative of Vienna, the dialogue on the trade and economic agenda was de facto frozen, but the mood in business circles remained different.

"If we operate with Austrian statistics, then for 10 months of 2022, the value of bilateral trade increased by 65.

4% compared to the same period in 2021 and reached a record 8.38 billion Euros ($8.98 billion). The volume of Russian exports almost doubled to 6.86 billion euros. The imports decreased by only 6.3% to 1.51 billion euros. It is clear that the high export performance is mainly due to a rise in prices in the energy markets, but this does not change the essence," Lyubinsky added.

Austrian entrepreneurs are showing great interest in maintaining mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia, the ambassador said, adding that out of 650 Austrian companies represented in Russia, only a few of them left the Russian market.