International Business

Russia Foreign Trade Surplus Up 29%: The country’s trade surplus with countries outside the former Soviet Union last year rose to $20 billion from $15.6 billion in 1993, the Interfax news agency said. The agency quoted the Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations as saying that 1994 foreign trade turnover rose 7% to more than $76 billion. It gave no figure for 1993. Most of Russia’s $48 billion in exports were raw materials such as oil and gas, while half the $28 billion in imports consisted of food and consumer goods. About 70% of the exports went to industrialized countries, particularly the European Union.