June 13 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's deficit in trade in goods with Russia surged to 3.7 billion levs ($1.98 billion/1.89 billion euro) in the first four months of 2022, compared to a gap of some 1.3 billion levs in the like period of 2021, the statistical office said on Monday.
Bulgaria's imports of goods (CIF) from Russia, which consisted mainly of oil and gas until Gazprom halted deliveries in late April, increased to 3.98 billion levs in the review period from 1.5 billion levs in the first four months of last year, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a statement, citing preliminary data.
Bulgarian exports (FOB) to Russia dropped 4.2% year-on-year, reaching 240.3 million levs.
Bulgaria's trade deficit with Ukraine also expanded in annual terms in the January-April period, to 422 million levs from 257.7 million levs a year earlier. Bulgarian exports (FOB) to Ukraine edged up 6.1% on the year to 223.1 million levs, while imports (CIF) from Ukraine grew 37.9% to 645.1 million levs.
Bulgaria's overall deficit in trade in goods more than doubled to 3.9 billion levs in the first four months of 2022 from 1.7 billion levs in the January-April period of 2021.
Turkey, Serbia, the US, North Macedonia, the UK, China and Egypt were Bulgaria's main trading partners outside the European Union in the review period, accounting for 52.6% of the country's exports to third countries which totalled 9.2 billion levs, the NSI added.
The volume of imports into Bulgaria from third countries was the highest for goods coming from Russia, Turkey, China and Ukraine, for a total of some 14.4 billion levs, which represented a 58.3% annual increase.
In the January-March period, Bulgaria's main trading partners were Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece, France and Spain, which together accounted for 69.1% of the country's exports to the 27-member bloc worth, the NSI said in a separate set of data. At 14.2 billion levs, exports to EU member states were 36.9% more that in the first quarter of 2021, while imports from the EU went up 31% on the year to 13.8 billion levs.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)