Russia-EU trade relations in the light of economic sanctions

Bc. Aleksandra Mytca

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Political relations between Russia and the EU have gone through different stages, from hostility to peace and to revival and even active discussion of possible unification. Despite the political interests, economic relations between the two partners remained pragmatic and stable. Geographical location, as well as resource and technological complementarities, have made the EU and Russia key trading partners. However, the situation has been changed in 2014, when the EU imposed political and economic sanctions against Russia. The reason for this was the Ukrainian conflict and annexation of Crimea. In such conditions, it becomes interesting to explore the impact of sanctions on trade relations between the EU and Russia. During the period 1998-2018, the trade structure has not been changed, even after sanction imposition. The trade relations are still focused mainly on the exchange of mineral resources and technologies. Accordingly, these sectors were affected by sanctions most of all. After 2014, traded volumes of all main traded articles have been reduced significantly. However, it started growing already in 2017. As Russia's largest trade partner in the EU, Germany has suffered of sanctions most of all. Nonetheless, the regression analysis showed that the sanctions did not negatively affect either the Russian or the EU economy. They even contributed to economic growth.

Keywords

Russia, EU, Sanctions, Foreign Trade, Economy, Trade partners, Import, Export, Regression analysis

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 30. 8. 2021

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Mgr. Elena Kuzmenko, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Master programme / field:
Economics and Management / Economics and Management