The analysis of external economic relations of Russia reveals a paradox: while Europe is the main trade and direct … investment partner of Russia, this is far from being the case concerning its currency's role in Russia's financial activities …

The key factor in the strengthening of the real exchange rate of the ruble in the 2000s was the transformation based … growth of Russia's economy (the Balassa-Samuelson effect) coupled with the improving foreign trade conditions. As can be … concluded on the basis of data for Q4 2014, for the ruble's real exchange rate to return to its fundamentally substantiated …