Israel

Israel — a country in the Middle East on the south-eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea

It shares land borders with Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan on the east, Egypt to the south.

Official languages — hebrew, arabic

Capital — Jerusalem

Form of government — parliamentary republic

Head of state — president elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term by secret ballot. Supreme legislature — the Knesset — is the unicameral national legislature. Central executive branch — the government, headed by the Prime minister. The highest tier of a court system — the Supreme court of Israel (the High Court of Justice).

Currency — Israeli new shekel (ILS)

Population — 8,08 million people (97th in 2013)

GDP — $291,357 billion (37th in 2013 according to The World Bank)

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Market Access

Tariff barriers: Israel tariff barriers

Non-tariff barriers: not declared (with regards to Russian products as of the 1st of July 2014)

Current external markets trade barriers schedule by The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Trade relations with Russia: according to the Federal Customs Service in 2013 the Russia-Israel trade turnover reached $3,578 billion (+23% in relation to 2012). Russian export amounted to $2,085 billion (+27% in relation to 2012); import reached $1,493 billion (+13% in relation to 2012).

In 2013 the Israel’s share of the Russian foreign trade volume was 0,2%.

Mutual trade dynamics is characterized by steadily growing import and variable export.

Source: The Federal Customs Service of Russia

Import structure from Israel to Russia

(according to the Federal Customs Service of Russia; thousand of USD)

Product code Product label 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 TOTAL All products 207 222 208 799 331 876 408 152 529 805 734 448 636 252 773 457 1 083 963 1 285 593 1 492 795 '07 Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers 3 638 6 418 11 920 28 948 61 490 79 105 97 197 139 500 240 910 234 385 240 728 '85 Electrical, electronic equipment 66 289 69 282 91 156 79 821 56 855 77 706 42 352 87 572 106 964 136 940 146 221 '30 Pharmaceutical products 9 215 7 512 28 301 40 037 24 962 84 963 79 593 102 403 139 440 244 898 126 794 '90 Optical, photo, technical, medical, etc. apparatus 14 484 14 239 30 941 33 090 78 611 88 365 45 058 56 444 70 256 106 272 102 656 '08 Edible fruit, nuts, peel of citrus fruit, melons 4 366 8 880 15 295 16 281 31 430 32 039 41 872 52 998 75 524 84 412 97 998 '84 Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, etc. 41 395 12 343 33 746 32 334 70 025 84 012 49 177 52 370 91 322 74 215 84 790 '39 Plastics and articles thereof 14 606 17 580 29 432 42 277 49 066 73 370 40 736 57 992 64 496 67 327 59 510 '33 Essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics, toiletries 5 089 5 407 7 026 7 156 10 763 13 584 15 999 20 860 20 558 29 724 42 226 '20 Vegetable, fruit, nut, etc. food preparations 6 761 9 011 13 849 22 382 34 774 39 572 29 343 41 266 50 457 50 707 38 837 '82 Tools, implements, cutlery, etc. of base metal 1 389 1 607 2 124 3 798 8 507 13 757 9 784 15 885 21 977 28 565 32 505 06 Live trees, plants, bulbs, roots, cut flowers etc. 4 169 9 508 14 459 38 810 18 720 16 488 16 236 18 598 25 507 26 758 28 478 '56 Wadding, felt, nonwovens, yarns, twine, cordage, etc. 411 91 1 231 3 789 9 018 7 531 7 187 5 261 5 432 11 493 16 881 '32 Tanning, dyeing extracts, tannins, derivs,pigments etc. 1 100 2 622 3 896 2 462 2 454 3 079 5 680 10 040 12 307 12 274 13 934 '29 Organic chemicals 2 185 1 814 5 507 6 951 8 181 10 390 10 178 20 399 28 821 14 109 13 616 '94 Furniture, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings 292 715 472 1 927 1 065 1 759 10 302 3 501 7 494 9 928 12 611 Other 31 833 41 770 42 521 48 089 63 884 108 728 135 558 88 368 122 498 153 586 435 010

Export structure from Russia to Israel

(according to the Federal Customs Service of Russia; thousand of USD)

Product code Product label 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 TOTAL All products 945 246 1 095 294 1 454 073 1 437 285 1 537 637 1 551 273 1 512 354 2 034 068 1 047 000 1 683 039 1 307 388 '27 Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, etc. 255 886 305 812 581 897 588 022 475 254 454 839 638 914 1 093 707 356 560 768 263 453 028 '71 Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins, etc. 40 527 74 659 81 965 128 769 234 413 222 310 247 147 467 991 311 376 576 228 383 785 '10 Cereals 23 614 35 735 81 443 42 517 49 924 40 035 146 058 50 153 111 912 80 827 176 191 '72 Iron and steel 42 767 42 565 43 706 75 792 78 530 72 134 98 303 86 886 60 810 62 442 73 803 '23 Residues, wastes of food industry, animal fodder 1 197 437 578 2 338 3 348 6 165 12 452 6 120 2 536 4 187 6 766 '84 Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, etc. 1 098 729 8 309 2 648 587 1 089 5 055 6 686 1 901 6 682 1 233 '44 Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal 3 782 4 582 4 409 9 038 16 658 25 242 38 990 15 558 17 522 16 210 18 163 '81 Other base metals, cermets, articles thereof 1 677 5 024 1 863 4 692 4 996 13 950 16 634 20 416 8 644 9 910 16 890 '48 Paper and paperboard, articles of pulp, paper and board 12 491 11 924 12 792 16 118 11 898 8 081 12 193 18 438 14 789 14 997 14 932 '31 Fertilizers 1 689 1 089 166 6 766 4 877 4 970 9 513 3 234 7 263 6 117 5 293 '76 Aluminium and articles thereof 9 455 18 819 13 037 8 516 13 636 43 393 57 238 33 245 26 970 49 811 37 681 '38 Miscellaneous chemical products 916 545 545 1 025 1 572 2 588 3 270 4 629 3 471 4 183 5 261 '15 Animal,vegetable fats and oils, cleavage products, etc. 566 196 270 276 2 141 2 185 382 408 634 923 1 018 '39 Plastics and articles thereof 63 138 276 316 386 2 921 4 333 4 761 2 948 4 717 5 718 '29 Organic chemicals 258 238 6 347 7 486 8 252 5 115 10 901 409 351 2 921 4 938 Other 549 260 592 802 616 470 542 966 631 165 646 256 210 971 221 427 119 313 74 621 102 688

Major foreign trade partners of Israel

(according to International Trade Center; thousand of USD)

Country Turnover 2013 % World 137 882 750 100.0% 1 USA 25 910 596 18.8% 2 China 10 644 352 7.7% 3 Honking 6 597 112 4.8% 4 Belgium 6 276 079 4.6% 5 Germany 6 160 175 4.5% 6 United Kingdom 5 870 275 4.3% 7 Turkey 5 020 465 3.6% 8 India 4 360 290 3.2% 9 Italy 3 804 918 2.8% … … 14 Russian Federation 2 480 907 1.8%

Source — The Central Bank of the Russian Federation

Investment dynamics from Israel to Russia

(thousand of USD)

Item 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 6M 2012 Investment and investment income received (total) 52493.42 53332.62 8020.89 9604.31 4376.70 5402.9 Direct investment received 37292.65 46442.74 1861.21 1186.74 440.40 3251.26 Cumulative investment as at the end of reporting period (total) 95912.80 98516.30 109320.91 95603.42 118590.66 112855.23 Direct investment Cumulative as at the end of reporting period 63913.60 84657.70 83391.42 80034.88 109615.54 107729.82

Investment dynamics from Russia to Israel

(thousand of USD)

Item 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 6M 2012 Investment and investment income received 309989.30 3924.80 5038.48 4389.61 4688.80 3296.78 Direct investment received 98.60 - - 650.00 - 5.62 Cumulative investment as at the end of reporting period 6441.6 802.00 2133.12 1540.09 1360.13 1563.9 Cumulative direct investment as at the end of reporting period 98.60 98.60 98.60 548.60 548.60 607.41

The low Russian-to-Israel investment level can be explained by the requirements to foreign companies willing to participate in construction and property development activities. The requirements are unacceptable to the majority of Russian companies, in particular in energy and transport infrastructure construction that is usually financed by the contractor with a gradual investment return after a number of years of infrastructure use.

Integration

In 2012 during the Vladimir Putin and the Israel’s president Shimon Peres and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiations the Israeli party proposed to establish a Free Trade Area with Russia.

In March 2014 the Customs Union and Israel set up a joint FTA-perspective research group.

Russia-Israel bilateral agreements