Over the past four years, the share of so-called “friendly” countries in the total export from the Russian Federation has nearly doubled, reaching 85%. At the same time, countries that are officially considered “unfriendly” continue to actively purchase Russian goods, including energy resources, fertilizers, nuclear fuel, metals, as well as fish and seafood.
This is reported by Finway
Export Growth to Alternative Markets
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated that in just the first half of the current year, “unfriendly” countries spent over $25.5 billion on acquiring Russian products. Simultaneously, Russia is actively redirecting its exports to the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union, CIS, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as expanding cooperation with countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
“Exports in these directions have been steadily increasing over the past four years, and while in 2021 they accounted for only 44% of the total volume, by 2024 they have already exceeded 85%. This trend continues in the current year,” Mishustin said.
Energy Resource Supplies and Import Growth to Japan
In October 2025, Russia plans to send about 750,000 barrels (100,000 tons) of a mixture of Arctic heavy oil ARCO and gas condensate to the Syrian port of Baniyas. This is a type of light oil that has already been exported to Syria earlier this year along with diesel fuel.
A noticeable increase in the purchase of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) is also observed from Japan. In September of this year, Japan increased its LNG imports from Russia by 28.5% compared to September 2024, reaching 555,000 tons. This is the highest figure in the past six months. Since the beginning of 2025, supplies of Russian LNG to Japan have increased by 4%, reaching 4.287 million tons.