Russia seeks trade shift from crisis-hit Europe

Russia needs to urgently re-route exports from low-growth Europe to other, faster-expanding markets, Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina said on Friday as Moscow sought to distance itself from the crisis-hit region. The financial woes of eurozone members, including Greece, have so far not had a direct impact on Russia.
But the resulting rise in risk aversion across the globe has forced several Russian companies to delay listing or accept lower valuations, and has sent Moscow's stock markets lower. "The events of recent weeks showed that it is a bit too soon to talk about the end of the global crisis," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the collegium of the Finance and Economy Ministries on Friday.
The crisis has strengthened the role of emerging markets like Brazil, India and China as new centres for global growth, Economy Ministry Elvira Nabiullina said at the same event. "The main part of our exports is oriented towards the slow-growing European market. We risk being outside of the new centres of growth," she said.