More international trade in Murmansk
In the course of 2007, the international trade turnover of Murmansk Oblast increased 20,4 percent to a total of 2.27 billion USD. At the same time, international project activities in the region are picking pace.
According to the regional social and economic report for 2007, the foreign trade of Murmansk Oblast remains highly export-oriented with exports accounting for 2.03 billion USD of the trade. Imports still had the biggest growth – 120 percent – in 2007, much because of new equipment bought by the Murmansk Shipping Company. The exports from Murmansk Oblast in 2007 increased 14,4 percent from 2006.
The main foreign trade partners of the region were the Netherlands, Norway, China, Sweden, Finland Germany, Belgium, the UK and Belarus.
The economy of Murmansk Oblast remains dominated by big raw material extracting and processing units. Thus, while the value of processed industrial output totalled 65 billion RUB, the turnover of small enterprises in the region totalled only 71 million RUB.
At the same time, the Murmansk region in 2007 saw a significant decrease in foreign investments, which were only 28 percent of the 2006 investments. The foreign investments totalled 25.25 million USD of which Norwegian investors accounted for about 25 percent.
According to the report, a total of 79 international projects unfolded in the region in 2007. The project activities attracted 70 million USD of technical aid and grants from abroad.
Read the whole report at gov-murman.ru
