MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Ukraine’s foreign trade deficit totaled $51.7 bln in the first ten months of this year, according to a report by the country’s State Customs Service.

According to the agency, Ukraine imported goods worth a total of $84.16 bln in January-October, up 24% year-on-year, while exports amounted to $32.4 bln, down 2% compared with the same period last year.

Machinery, equipment, vehicles, fuel and energy products, and chemical products accounted for the bulk of imports. Exports consisted primarily of food products, metals, and metal products. Meanwhile, the State Customs Service reported a 21% year-on-year decline in the total value of Ukrainian exports of metals and metal products.

Ukraine’s foreign trade deficit reached $6.3 bln in October alone, with the value of imports nearly three times that of exports. According to the Ukrainian publication Minfin, the figure marked a record high. The publication attributed the deterioration in the trade balance to the blocking of maritime export routes and the limited capacity of alternative routes for shipping goods abroad.