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Trade Surplus Falls 10 Percent

Russia's foreign trade surplus fell 10.5 percent year on year in January-June 2013, the Federal Customs Service said in a statement Tuesday.

"The foreign trade balance was positive at $103.3 billion, $12.1 billion less than in January-June 2012," the statement said.

Russia's foreign trade surplus with CIS countries, a loose association including many former Soviet republics but not the Baltic States or Georgia, fell $4.6 billion to $12.8 billion, with the same indicator for non-CIS countries falling by $7.4 billion to $90.5 billion.

In the first half of 2013, Russia's exports fell by 2.7 percent to $253.9 billion and imports rose 3.4 percent to $150.7 billion.

The European Union remained Russia's largest economic partner, accounting for 50.1 percent of the country's commodity turnover in the first six months of 2013.

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