Albania, Russia seek to boost sanctions-hit trade, investment ties

Story Highlights

• Albania and Russia are making official efforts to strengthen bilateral ties with a focus on the economy, despite sanctions in place by both countries since the 2014 Crimea annexation having curbed trade exchanges, overwhelmingly dominated by Albanian imports. The move comes as an Albanian-Russian intergovernmental committee on trade and economic cooperation gathered in Tirana this week following an eight-year break, bringing together government authorities and business representatives from both countries to discuss untapped potential in trade exchanges and investment which have been hampered by Albania joining EU sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea 2014 and Russia's counter-sanctions a year later, affecting Albania's fruit and vegetable exports, but with no major impact due to the low level of exports.