add Russia/En Europe 1

The fact’s not lost on nations as diverse as China and Australia, both of whom are forming ever-closer trading relationships with Russia. In the final quarter of last year, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao visited Russia, and Vladimir Putin made the first-ever visit to Australia by a sitting Russian head of state.

With China’s speeding growth, its trade with Russia is expected to top $40bn for 2007; it had reached $33bn by September.

The Australian Trade Commission’s chief economist Tim Harcourt says people often forget that Russia’s a Pacific as well as European country; the Putin visit provided Australians with a chance to learn about the new Russia and the other emerging economies in eastern Europe and central Asia that formally made up the Soviet Bloc.

“The Russian economy has achieved annual growth of around 7%, and looked beyond its key resource centres in oil and natural gas to build a broader economic base through increased international trade.”

And increase it has. Mr Harcourt cites comments by Dan Tebbutt, Australia’s Senior Trade Commissioner in Moscow, who says Australia’s two-way trade with Russia grew to be worth A$719m (US$633.4m) in 2006. “Russia’s vast retail market is the tenth largest in the world. Meat exports are booming, with a 14-fold increase in beef, a three-fold increase in lamb, and wine sales up by 40%.” Mr Tebbutt also believes there are considerable opportunities for service providers in energy technology and infrastructure.

But Mr Harcourt sounds a note of caution to companies keen to win a share of the increasing Russian trade. Though speaking primarily for the benefit of Australian companies his advice is worth listening to globally: “My general advice to exporters is that there are lots of opportunities in the new Russia – especially in mining, energy, banking and consumer goods. It is wise however, to seek government assistance as the ‘government badge’ still matters when doing business in Russia.”