Russia's foreign trade surplus up 58% in January-June to $110 bln

MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign trade surplus increased 58.2% year-on-year in January-June 2008 to $110.1 billion, the Federal Customs Service said on Thursday. The surplus of trade with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose association of former Soviet republics excluding the Baltic States, grew 85% to $17.8 billion and trade surplus with non-CIS countries climbed 53.8% to $92.3 billion in the reporting period, the service said. Russia's foreign trade volume grew 50.2% in January-June 2008 year-on-year to $359.6 billion, the... [read full story]