Northern Macedonia’s sanctions against the Russian Federation do not seem to have produced the expected results. Instead of decreasing trade, official data show the opposite. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, North Macedonia has joined the United States of America and the countries of the European Union (EU) in imposing a package of sanctions.
If the latest data is analysed, that is, from January this year, a significant increase in trade exchange will be seen. This trend is also present in import and export with all of North Macedonia’s main trading partners.
According to the data of the State Agency for Statistics, the total value of goods exports from the Republic of North Macedonia in January 2023 marks an increase of 13.7% compared to the same month in 2022.
In January 2023, according to the overall volume of foreign trade, the Republic of North Macedonia traded mainly with Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Serbia and China. Expressed in euros, the total value of goods exports from the Republic of North Macedonia in January 2023 reaches 621 million euros, while the value of imported goods is 848 million euros, which is 5% more than in the same period the previous year.
Exports to the Russian Federation in January 2022 amounted to 3.6 million euros, while in January this year it was 8.8 million. Imports from the Russian Federation have also increased: While in January last year it was 17.6 million euros, in January this year russian goods worth 50.6 million euros were imported to North Macedonia.
