The article identifies the commodity and geographical composition of foreign trade turnover between Siberian regions and their bordering countries: China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. The place Siberia occupies in the structure of Russia’s economy and the problem of distortion of its statistical indicators are discussed. The role of Siberia’s foreign trade on the national and global scales, as well as the dynamics of its share and monetary value indicators since 2017, are analyzed. The geographical structure of Siberia’s trade turnover is described. The issues of Russia’s role in its trade relations with China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia are briefly discussed. The shares and monetary value indicators of trade turnover and export/import commodity groups of each Siberian region with countries bordering Siberia are calculated. The regions that hold leading positions in the compositions of export and import are analyzed in greater detail. Special features of foreign trade structures of various Siberian regions are identified. The degrees of importance of foreign trade with China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia for Siberian regions are considered. The article touches upon the issue of the emerging competition between Siberia and Mongolia in the export of similar commodity groups to foreign markets, primarily coal, copper ores and concentrates. The routes of commodity flows between Siberia and bordering countries are described. The key border crossings in the trade turnover with the discussed countries are named. The issues related to China’s Belt and Road initiative are briefly discussed. The article also considers issues of future foreign trade turnover between Siberia and neighboring countries: the predicted increase in the role of China and Kazakhstan in Siberia’s foreign trade in the short term and the instability of the trade prospects between Mongolia and Siberia due to the narrow range of goods exchanged. An analysis of the transformation of the geographical directions of Russia’s foreign trade in the early 2020s is analyzed on the national scale on the example of the export of coal as the main cargo of Siberian railways. Specific outlook scenarios for the development of Siberian foreign trade relations are forecasted. The article concludes by examining the emerging need for diversification of the geographical structure of Russia’s foreign trade.
E. A. Sherin (Mon,) studied this question.