Russian recovery?

[Dennis Robert Redmond]

Hmm, Eurostat says that Russia, far from being a hopeless basket case,
actually ran respectable trade surpluses with the EU during most of the
1990s:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/Public/datashop/print-product/EN?catalogue=Eurostat&product=6-27092001-EN-AP-EN&mode=download

The report also says (1) Russian food imports declined drastically in 1998
and have stayed that way, suggesting the domestic food sector has regained
market share, and (2) Russian exports of manufactured goods to the EU are
rising fast (they're now 25% of exports). Chris Doss, does this check out?

-- Dennis