FX.co ★ German Vice Chancellor to visit Moscow for trade talks

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel will visit Moscow on September 21 to hold talks with Russian government on bilateral trade issues.
During his 2-day trip, Sigmar Gabriel will also meet with German entrepreneurs doing business in Russia.
The trade between Germany and Russia declined again in the first half of 2016. It contracted by 13.7% in the first six months of 2016 from the previous year. German exports also fell by 20.6% to 12.2 billion euros from 15.4 billion euros. In 2015, the trade volume between the countries declined by 23.9% after falling by 12.3% in 2014. German exports fell by 18.4% in 2014.
However, according to statistics from Russia, the trade volume in 2013 came in at $74.9 billion and decreased to $45.8 billion in 2015.
Germany's Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy said that the trade between Russia and Germany contracted because of the structural weakening of the Russian economy due to its heavy dependence on oil and gas exports.
The ministry also reiterated that Russia still remains the major energy supplier for Germany. About a third of total Germany’s oil and gas imports comes from Russia. Moreover, Russia supplies to Germany significant volumes of non-ferrous metals, iron and steel.