German imports from Russia have increased over the first seven months of this year by 32.6% in annual terms, amounting to $27.9 billion, the Russian Trade Mission in Berlin told RIA Novosti on Monday, citing data from Germany's federal statistical office. 

The Russian trade representative in Germany, Andrey Sobolev, estimates that imports of fuel and energy items increased by 40.5% from January to July. Russian gold purchases have increased by more than ten times, while silver imports have increased by roughly five times as much. The EU country has also boosted purchases of other metals from Russia, including copper, aluminum, and nickel.

German exports to Russia fell by 43.6% to $10.2 billion from the same time last year. Germany's trade deficit was $17.7 billion as a result of declining exports, according to the data. 

Despite the general decline in exports to Russia, the trade representative explained that “there was an increase in supplies from Germany of pharmaceutical products, seeds and fruits.”

Russia made up 2.3% of total German foreign trade and was the fourth most important country for German goods outside of the EU in 2021. US analytics firm S&P Global warned in April of a possible financial shock if there’s a “trade rupture” between the two countries.

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A few days earlier, the German government announced on September 16 that it was taking control of the German operations of Russian energy firm Rosneft in a bid to secure energy supplies affected by the European sanctions on Russia in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Germany placed the German subsidiaries of Rosneft under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency, the economy ministry said in a statement.

"The trust management will counter the threat to the security of energy supply," it said, as Rosneft's subsidiaries make up around 12% of the country's oil refining capacity.

The companies affected by the decision are Rosneft Deutschland GmbH (RDG) and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH (RNRM), in addition to PCK Schwedt, MiRo, and Bayernoil, all of which are refineries.

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Italy and Germany are now the two largest European countries most exposed to a gas supply shock due to their extensive use of natural gas and significant reliance on Russia, according to S&P Global Ratings.

About 60% of Germany's natural gas supply was piped in from Russia in 2020, primarily under long-term contracts.