Investor Presentaiton
22 Leonid B. Vardomskiy
The main imports are pesticides, food products and raw materials for their
production, fibers, fabrics and raw non-woven materials, machines and equip-
ment (mainly raw materials and spare parts for companies).
The volume and structure of imports indicate low investment activity. At
the same time, a large share of imported consumer goods comes from Moscow,
which is the largest supplier of food and consumer goods in Russia with over 40%
market share.
The geographic structure of Ryazan's foreign trade has changed substan-
tially in the last five years. In 1995, most important countries for exports were
Italy, Germany, Turkey, Virgin Islands, the US, Ukraine, Rumania, Hungary, Iran;
imported goods came predominantly from Ukraine, Germany, the US, Great
Britain, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Slovakia, China, Italy, Kazakhstan. In the subse-
quent five years, the list of primary trade partners changed substantially (Table
6), reflecting the shifting nature of export-import connections.
Table 6: Main foreign trade partners of Ryazan Oblast in 2000
Foreign Economic Relations of Ryazan Oblast 23
The trade policy of the Tyumen Petroleum Company (TPC) exerts a decisive
influence over the geography of foreign trade contacts. It was this policy that
caused the sharp growth of exports to the Baltic countries.
The number of participants of foreign economic activity in the oblast was
375, or 1.5% of all registered legal subjects in 2000.
The largest of these were the TPC, and its subsidiary, the joint-stock com-
pany Ryazan PPP. The Ryazan State Equipment Plant and joint-stock companies
"Ryazanagrokhim" and "Visko-R" can be noted as other significant participants
of foreign economic activity.
Therefore, the foreign trade of the oblast is characterized by high concentra-
tion in terms of product structure, shares of individual companies, and shares of
certain countries in exports and imports. The territorial concentration of foreign
trade is even higher. Ryazan accounts for almost 99% of exports and 89% of
imports of the oblast.
The oblast is one of the last among the regions of the Central Russia in terms
of the volume of foreign investment. (Table 7)
Country
Exports in %
Country
Imports in %
Estonia
52
Germany
19
Table 7:
Direct foreign investment in the Ryazan Oblast and the neighboring regions
in 1994-1999, in million dollars13
Latvia
10
Kazakhstan
13
Ukraine
7
Italy
10
Regions
1994-1996
1997
1998
1999
Lithuania
6
Belgium
9
Vladimir Oblast
11.9
14.0
1.9
38.5
China
4
Great Britain
8
Lipetsk Oblast
11.5
0.1
6.4
12.2
Romania
4
Ukraine
8
Mordovia
3.1
1.7
4.3
0.6
Finland
3
Norway
5
Moscow Oblast
629.1
66.1
637.1
390.0
Poland
3
Czech
5
Nizhni Novgorod
87.2
4.5
4.0
13.8
Oblast
Turkey
2
Sweden
3
Penza Oblast
1.5
0.0
2.3
0.3
total
total
91
80
ten primary trade partners
ten primary trade partners
(Data obtained by Ryazan customs)
Nonetheless, between 1995 and 2000, one could emphasize the special status that
countries with transitional economies held within the foreign economic ties of the
oblast. Their share grew rapidly in 2000, when 76% of exports went to post-Soviet
countries, among them 8% to the countries of the CIS and 68% to the Baltic states.
They also made up approximately 25% of imports, including 24% from CIS
countries.
(Source: Gostkomstat RF, Sotsial'no -ekonomicheskoe polozhenie Rossii (State Committee on
Statistics of the Russian Federation, Social and Economic Situation of Russia), no. 1, January
2001, information for the years 1996-2000.)
13 Goskomstat RF, Sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoe polozhenie Rossii, janvar-fevral', 1998, 1999,
2000 (State Committee on Statistics of the Russian Federation, Socioeconomic Situation of Rus-
sia, January-February, 1998, 1999, 2000).
Ryazan Oblast
3.0
1.2
4.1
1.3
Tambov Oblast
11.7
0.0
0.1
3.4
Tula Oblast
17.0
31.3
29.9
5.7
Russian
4515.9
3897.4
3361.0
4260.0
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