May 13 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's deficit in trade in goods with Russia jumped to 2.83 billion levs ($1.5 billion/1.4 billion euro) in the first three months of 2022, compared to a gap of 932.9 million levs in the same period of 2021, the statistical office said.
Bulgaria's imports of goods (CIF) from Russia, which consist mainly of oil and gas, increased to 3 billion levs in the review period from 1.1 billion levs compared to the first quarter of 2021, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a statement, citing preliminary data.
Bulgarian exports (FOB) to Russia dropped 3.3% year-on-year, reaching 176.3 million levs.
Bulgaria's trade deficit with Ukraine was also much larger in annual terms in the January-March period - at 313.6 million levs against 190.4 million levs a year earlier. Bulgarian exports (FOB) to Ukraine rose by 42.7% on the year in the first quarter, to 176.5 million levs, while imports (CIF) from Ukraine were 56% higher than a year earlier, at 490.1 million levs.
Bulgaria's overall deficit in trade in goods nearly doubled to 3.32 billion levs in the first three months of 2022 from 1.53 billion levs in the first quarter of last year.
Syria, Tunisia, South Africa and Iran accounted for the largest increases in imports to Bulgaria from non-EU member states, whereas Bulgarian exports to South Africa, Brazil, Georgia and Egypt grew the most in annual terms.
In the January-February period, Bulgaria's main European Union trading partners were Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece, France and the Netherlands, which accounted for 69.1% of the country's exports to the EU member states, the NSI said in a separate set of data. Exports of goods from Bulgaria to the EU increased by 29.7% to 8.6 billion levs in comparison with the first two months of 2021. Imports from the EU were up 30.2% at 8.55 billion.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)