Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has directly affected companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which export goods, primarily to the markets of Russia and Ukraine. The situation on the field also had a negative impact on imports into BiH.
According to the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber, trade with Russia is significant, and with Ukraine somewhat weaker. Imports predominate in the foreign trade of BiH and Russia, but exports are not insignificant either.
It is known that we export the most pharmaceutical products to both markets. The Russian market is important to our businessmen also because of the export of fruits. 81 million BAM worth of pharmaceutical products are at the forefront of exports to the Russian market last year. It is followed by the export of fruit with almost 9 million BAM worth. Considering that the export from our country takes place only through two border crossings, we exported goods worth 107.8 million BAMto this country.
When it comes to imports, only last year we imported goods worth 277.46 million BAM from Russia to our country. Although we export mineral fuels, the import is somewhat higher, which is not surprising, so we spent almost 228 million BAM last year on oil and its products, which are included in mineral and fossil fuels. It is interesting that we also imported 12 million aircraft from Russia, ie their parts. Metals are also in the top 10 import tariffs from Russia – copper with its products with a value of just over 3 million BAM, and iron and steel with twice the amount.
The value of imported goods from Ukraine last year was almost 38 million BAM. Thus, we only imported wood worth more than 9 million BAM, then plastics worth 6 and a half million. They are followed by mineral fuels and fruits with 4 million and 200 thousand BAM each. As in Russia, we imported metals from Ukraine. We imported pharmaceutical products, electrical machines, and seeds for the amount of more than one million BAM.
In 2021, goods worth around 9.05 million BAM were exported from BiH to Ukraine. Pharmaceutical products were the most exported from them – for 3.02 million BAM, followed by iron and steel products worth 1.9 million, products that belong to the group of nuclear reactors, boilers, machines worth 967 thousand BAM. We then exported essential oils, inorganic chemicals, wood and wood products, and other products.
When it comes to the Ukrainian market, we have also imported more since the beginning of this year than we exported. With more than 777 thousand BAM of value, the import of wood is in the lead. We imported fruit worth 481 thousand BAM. Unlike last year, when the export of pharmaceutical products was in the lead, since the beginning of this year we have recorded the largest export of iron and steel products, as much as 267 thousand BAM– last year these products were not even in the top 10 tariffs. Tobacco products broke from 6th place last year to the very top of the list in the first two months of this year, with an export value of more than 175 thousand BAM.
Unfortunately, BiH imports more than it exports goods, which is not good for us. In January, BiH exported goods worth 1.322 billion BAM, which is 49.4 percent more than in the same month last year, while imports amounted to 1.711 billion BAMor 46.7 percent more, according to the BiH Statistics Agency. The coverage of imports by exports was 77.2 percent, while the foreign trade deficit amounted to about 390 million BAM.
When it comes to imports from Russia, fuel imports have been at the forefront since the beginning of 2022, followed by imports of vehicles, wood, paper, cardboard, tobacco, and other products. We imported more than 33 million BAM in fuel alone. 7 million worth of imported vehicles. We imported a little less than a million BAMworth of wood, paper, cardboard, then a little less than 85.000 worth of tobacco.
Shortages and new measures threaten everyone in the world, which makes the situation even more difficult for our country. For now, BiH importers are not worried. There is still time, shortages are not threatening, and contracts are stable.
E.Dz.
Source: Federalna
