Vladimir Padalko, Vice-President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce, said that Russia is aiming to scale up imports of services, exotic fruits, pharmaceuticals and electronics from India to minimise the growing trade imbalance between the two countries, and to achieve the target of $100 billion in trade by 2030.
In an interaction with TNIE on the sidelines of the BRICS Business Forum on Friday, Padalko said Moscow is looking to diversify its imports, and India will be an important source as Indian companies have significant export capabilities.
“Electronics, of course, and pharma. We are also very, very interested in increasing agricultural goods imports,” Padalko said, adding that Russia's geographical location and climatic conditions create an opportunity for larger imports of exotic fruits from India.
Padalko said Russian companies had already begun discussions with Indian businesses to substantially increase imports of grapes. The potential value of such trade could rise significantly from the current levels.
“Today, we discussed with one of our great companies increasing the volume of grapes exported to Russia from Bharat. We expect that the value of trade would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.
"However, improving logistics between the two countries would be critical in expanding trade in perishable agricultural products and other sectors," Padalko said.
He also flagged opportunities for greater cooperation in the digital and IT sectors.
“We also need to collaborate in the digital sphere to increase IT,” he said.
India and Russia have set a target of taking bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.
Padalko also highlighted the growing use of national currencies for bilateral trade, stating that more than 90 per cent of transactions between India and Russia are settled in Rubles and Rupees.
"Russia had sought greater use of national currencies after facing difficulties in accessing the international financial system amid geopolitical developments," he said.
Moscow and New Delhi had worked to build a Rupee-Ruble payment mechanism that helped ensure continuity in bilateral trade.
Russia is now exploring similar payment arrangements with other BRICS members as countries seek to strengthen their cross-border payment systems and reduce vulnerabilities arising from disruptions in global financial networks.
