Russia's foreign trade

Контрольная работа, факультет экономики. ...

1. Through most of the 20th century, Russia's, or the USSR as it was known for most of that century, trade with the outside world was mostly limited to trade with other members of the Socialist Bloc. It was self-sufficient in energy resources and primary goods. Its manufacturing industry was for domestic consumption only. Foreign consumer goods simply didn't exist. Investment from abroad was not encouraged because the government wanted full control of production and prices. But things have changed.
2. The Russia of the 21st century is much more open to business with the rest of the world. In the first six months of 2005, its total international trade turnover was worth about $150 billion. Both exports and imports have grown in recent years, but exports are growing more rapidly in value. This is mainly through the sale of oil and gas. In fact, energy resources make up over two thirds of Russia's exports. The growing price of these commodities on world markets has brought huge amounts of foreign currency into the Russian economy. Metals are also important for the Russian economy. Russia's steel industry, for example, is one of the world's biggest. Other primary goods such as timber, minerals and fish are also important.

Read the text and translate it orally

Communist ties have not all been broken, though. One of Russia's most important trading partners is China.4. But what does the future hold for the economy? The danger for Russia is that it relies very heavily on exports of oil, gas and minerals. Prices for these commodities can change suddenly on the world markets. What does Russia have to fall back on? At the moment, not very much. Its industrial sector is mostly run down and uncompetitive. During the Soviet years, a large part of the country's industrial strength was used to produce arms. Today, military equipment and weapons are still the biggest manufactured exports from Russia. It has to import almost all other manufactured goods.5. Many economists believe that Russia mustspend its oil money on investing in capital and infrastructurefor industry. Doing this will encourage foreign investment and further economic growth. In turn, this will help to spread the benefits of growth to everyone in Russia, not just a privileged elite.2. ComprehensionNow read the text again and decide whether these statements are true or false. If the statement is false, correct it in the space provided.1. During the Soviet times, Russia did not trade with other nations.T □ / F 2. The value of exports is growing faster than the value of imports.T / F □3. Metals are Russia's largest export.T □ / F 4. Many of Russia's old trading partners cannot afford its prices any more.T □ / F 5. Russia no longer trades with communist nations.T □ / F 6. Weapons are Russia's biggest export.T / F □7. Economists believe that Russia needs to invest more in its manufacturing industries.T □ / F 3. Complete each sentence with a word or phrase given below.arms broke ties withdomestic consumption fall back oninfrastructure open toprivileged elite run downSocialist Bloc the future holdsturnover1. Factories become run down if management don't look after buildings and invest in new equipment.2. Nobody really knows what the future holds, but you should make plans anyway.Many countries make lots of money selling arms like tanks and guns to foreign armies.In the West, the communist countries of the USSR were called the Socialist Bloc.5. When he left the company, he broke ties with all his old colleagues.6. It's good to have some savings to fall back on during hard times.7. The company was very open to my proposal for a new range of products.. Most of the wealth in modern industrial countries is owned by a small privileged elite..