As a result of the Russian invasion in Ukrainethe Dominican Republic lost income from Russian tourism of at least 77 million dollarsdue to its collapse.
Also, imports fell Dominicans from Russia from 166 to 41 million dollars and two thirds were lost of the dollar value of the exports Creoles to that destination, which went from 15.6 million to 5.7 million from one year to the next.
The figures are contained in a study directed by the dominican ambassador in Russia, Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, which analyzes the cost of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on bilateral trade with Russia in 2022 and the opportunities for exporters.
This indicates that Dominican exporters and Russian buyers faced logistical complications in the procurement of containers (whose prices tripled), paid (since it is impossible for the buyer to buy enough dollars in Russia), as well as for the obstacles that represent the sanctions Over the russian banks.
“Embossed Dominican products in the Russian market such as tobacco, rum and coffee experienced declines of over 60% in their exports,” says the analysis.
However, it is highlighted here that business opportunities prevail for local exporters of non-sanctioned goods, such as bottled and bulk rum, fresh and dried fruit, as well as tobacco, using alternative logistics routes in Europe.
tourist numbers
The study indicates that, in the four months that preceded the start of the invasion (February 24, 2022), the Dominican Republic received 202,742 tourists from Russia and the other countries in which its embassy in Moscow is present. But the reduction in arrivals in the four months after the start of hostilities was 98%.
“With the aerial disassociation between our country and Russia we also lost contact with emerging source markets in Central Asia and the Caucasus,” the study says.
When calculating the income per Russian tourist average of the last eight years $1,098 per person per stay-, it is estimated that the loss of income from Russian tourism has been at least 70,666 tourists in absolute terms and of more than 77 million dollars in 2022.
