“The barter has nearly reached a final agreement. But we are also offering other products to Russia in addition to rubber,” said Trade Minister Enggartiasto "Enggar" Lukita, who is on an official visit to Russia from Aug. 3 to 5, as reported by Antara on Thursday.

During his Russia visit, Enggar and his entourage also discussed accelerating the Indonesia-Russia Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and the Indonesia-Eurasia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost trade with Russia and its neighboring countries.

Read also: Russia wants to barter Sukhoi for Indonesian rubber

Enggar said Russia was a gateway for Indonesian products to enter the Eurasian Economic Union market, whose members comprise Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Russia is also the largest market for Indonesian products and services in Eastern and Central Europe.   

Trade between Indonesia and Russia in 2016 was worth US$2.11 billion,  with Indonesia posting a surplus of $411 million, compared to $1.9 billion in 2015.

Indonesian non-oil exports to Russia grew 8.50 percent in the last five years with an export value of $1.3 billion in 2016, while Indonesian exports from January to May this year grew 54.43 percent to $ 1.12 billion.     

The main Indonesian commodities exported to Russia are palm oil and related products, coffee, rubber, coconut oil and cocoa. (bbn)   

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