International Commerce Monitor for Russia

In the world of economic research, the website continues to be a hub of activity and growth. Here's an update on some of the latest developments.

Zsolt Darvas, a Senior Fellow at the website, has been a part of the team since 2008. His journey began as a Visiting Fellow, and he was promoted to Research Fellow in 2009 and Senior Fellow in 2013. Darvas, who holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Corvinus University of Budapest, specialises in macroeconomics, international economics, central banking, and time series analysis. He also teaches courses in Econometrics and International Economics.

Catarina Martins, another Research Analyst, joined the team in an undisclosed year but has since moved on, working at the website until July 2023. Martins studied her BSc in Economics at the University of Porto and pursued an international quantitative MSc in Economics via the QTEM Network.

Luca Léry Moffat, another Research Analyst, worked at the website until March 2025. He completed his BA Honours degree in economics and Russian studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Marie-Sophie Lappe, a new addition to the team, joined as a Research Analyst in September 2024. She holds a bachelor's degree in International Economics and a master's degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Tübingen. Lappe previously worked at the European Central Bank in the International Policy analysis division.

The team's work is based on a comprehensive dataset that collects detailed trade data from 38 countries, including the European Union, China, the United States, and others. This dataset has been updated and extended to include most of the data used in the works by Darvas and Martins in 2022.

However, there are some gaps in the data. The Central Bank of Russia stopped publishing detailed trade data following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and EU-27 imports of "Petroleum other than crude" (SITC 334) and "Liquefied propane and butane" (SITC 342) have not been updated since June and February 2025, respectively, and are assumed to be zero for the months with missing data.

Despite these gaps, the dataset is updated monthly, and some countries' data, such as Switzerland, South Korea, China, Brazil, and Norway, are available for July 2025. The complete update for all countries and aggregates is available up to June 2025.

In addition to these updates, the website welcomed two new researchers. Nicolas Boivin joined as a Research Assistant from September 2024 to June 2025, and Marie-Sophie Lappe joined as a Research Analyst in the same month.

The dataset, which accounts for 80% of Russia's exports and imports in 2019, is a valuable resource for understanding global trade patterns. As the team continues to update and expand the dataset, it will undoubtedly remain a key player in the field of economic research.