KAZAN, June 17. /TASS/. Russia significantly increased its trade turnover with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the first months of 2026, primarily due to an increase in hydrocarbon exports in light of the situation surrounding Iran, Sergey Katyrin, head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told TASS on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN summit.
"We saw a slight dip [of the trade turnover volume] last year, but overall, the trend has certainly been one of growth over the past decade," Katyrin noted.
Russia and the ASEAN countries saw "very strong growth in the first half of the year," he stressed. "Since the beginning of this year, we have increased our hydrocarbon exports to these countries by 40%," the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said. These figures are linked to the challenging situation around Iran. Due to a shortage of energy resources, the ASEAN countries "naturally turned to Russia," Katyrin said "For them, it's support; for us, it's a way to implement our capabilities," the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry added.
Countries with free trade zone agreements with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), primarily Vietnam,"have seen greater growth in trade volume than other [ASEAN countries]," Katyrin said. "An agreement was signed with Indonesia last year, and I hope we will see significant growth there as well," he added.