Russia circumvents sanctions on Western goods primarily through Central Asian countries and Turkey. Eight percent of all Russian imports of goods used to build weapons systems or for military development have come from CIS countries.
China is still the most important trading partner for Russia. In view of the sanctions, Russia is becoming less and less important for the German economy. Exports of goods there fell by 38.8 percent to 8.9 billion euros last year. German imports from Russia even fell by 90.0 percent to 3.7 billion euros.