Russia Faces steep Price Hikes on Sanctioned Goods,Reportsโข Show
Helsinki – Russia isโ paying significantly inflated prices for sanctioned goods,particularly from โฃChina,according to recent reports from the Bankโ of Finland and โCapital โคEconomics.โ The data reveals Russia isโ facing a nearly 90%โข price markup on sanctioned products sourced from China, compared to a 9% increase from โคother โคtrading partners.
The Bankโฃ of Finland’s analysis concludes that trade โsanctionsโค are successfully limiting Russia’s โaccess to critical goods. Prices for sanctioned productsโค overall wereโ 40%โฃ higherโฃ than those ofโ non-sanctionedโค items. while China has become a keyโ trade partner โ-โ now accounting for 30% of Russia’s goods exports โฃand 50% of its imports โค- the relationshipโ remains asymmetrical, with Russia far more reliant on China economically than vice versa.
“China isโฃ more critically importantโข forโ Russia economically than โขRussia is for China.โ And Russia wants and needs more from the relationshipโ than China is willing to provide,” Capital Economics stated.
Bilateral tradeโ between Russia andโค china experienced โa 9% decline during the โfirst nine months ofโฃ 2025, following a period of more than doubling between 2020 and 2024. Capital Economics alsoโ noted limited expansion of Chinese supply chains withinโ Russia and constrained foreign โคdirect investment, potentiallyโ due to Chinese firms’ concerns about Western sanctions.
These findings emerge as the Kremlin reportedly proposes business โคdeals โฃwith the U.S. as part of โongoing talks to end the Ukraineโค war and liftโข sanctions. Simultaneously, Russia’s wartime economy is showing signs of โstrain, hampered by production bottlenecks,โ labor shortages, and a lack of Western technology.
Alexandraโข prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and former Russian central bank advisor, wrote in Foreign Affairs โ last month that a more thorough war footing – similar to โthat seen during World War II – โขwould beโข requiredโ to โฃsubstantially increase military production or personnel. This would necessitate directing all available resources toward military โneeds โคor โคcommandeering civilian production lines.
