Russia says trade with Morocco grew by 50% this year

Trade turnover between Russia and Morocco rose by almost 50% earlier this year, Russia’s Trade Representative to Morocco Artyom Tsingamzgvrishvili told the Russian News agency (TASS).

According to the diplomat, Morocco is the third-largest trade partner of the Russian Federation among the African countries, behind Egypt and Algeria.

“Exports from Russia to Morocco continue demonstrating positive
dynamics, with growth by 53% recorded for January-February, driven by the increase in supplies of Russian meat products, ammonia, coal, as well as the start of deliveries of Russian semi-products from iron or nonalloy steel,” he said, according to the same source.

“Imports from Morocco also grew by 36%, mainly due to growth of exports of the Moroccan citrus fruits (by 52%). Overall, the Russian-Moroccan trade turnover soared by almost 50% in January-February compared to the same period last year,” the envoy added.

“Morocco is among global leading wheat importers, mainly from Russia,” Tsingamzgvrishvili said, noting that “Russian grain deliveries to the kingdom amounted to $75 mln in 2017, $103 mln in 2018, $102 mln in 2019, $94 mln in 2020, $49 mln in 2021,”according to the same source.

Last month, Russia and Morocco decided on minimizing the impact on their bilateral trade by bartering and using currencies other than the dollar and the euro, following the imposed sanctions on Moscow, according to Russian Ambassador to Rabat, Valerian Shuvaev.

The Russian diplomat confirmed that trade between Morocco and Russia has been hit hard in recent weeks, due to payment problems caused by “the exclusion of many Russian banks from the Swift financial transaction system.”

Several countries around the world suspended their trade relations with Russia as well as temporarily closed their services, as part of imposed sanctions in support of Ukraine, following the Russian offensive that began on February 24.

Morocco maintained a neutral position regarding the geopolitical crisis, stressing the need for political discussion to end the ongoing conflict, noting that both Morocco and Russia share strong diplomatic relations.