Oil and gas revenues accounted for 52% of federal (Russian) budget revenues and over 70% of total exports in 2012, according to PFC Energy.
http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=rs
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Vladimir Putin’s commitment to oil and gas as the mainstay of Russia’s progress stems from a deep and abiding conviction about its importance to the nation’s economy. Long before he came to power, he had believed that “the restructuring of the national [Russian] economy on the basis of mineral and raw material resources” was “a strategic factor of economic growth in the near term.”[1]
In an article published a year before he became president, he reiterated that Russian mineral resources would be central to the country’s economic development, security, and modernization through “at least the first half” of the 21st century.[2] In Putin’s view, the only way for Russia to achieve economic growth of 4 to 6 percent per year—the tempo he deemed minimally necessary for Russia to reduce its lag behind the developed countries—was via “extraction, processing and exploitation of mineral raw resources.” This was the key to Russia’s becoming “a great economic power,” Putin believed.[3]
For Putin, oil and gas were also paramount politically as guarantors of the security and stability of the Russian state. As he put it, “The country’s natural resource endowment is the most important economic and political factor in the development of social production.” Furthermore, the “raw material complex” was the “basis for the country’s military might” and an “essential condition” for modernization of the military-industrial complex.[4] Finally, he believed the mineral extraction sector of the economy “diminishes social tensions” by raising the “level of well-being” of the Russian population.[5]
http://www.aei.org/outlook/foreign-and-defense-policy/regional/europe/the-political-economy-of-russian-oil-and-gas/
Unless you are living in socialism, there is a difference between federal budget and overall economy.
I wouldn’t argue that oil brings the most profit for the Russian government, but it only means they are taxing extraction like crazy while leaving the rest of businesses and individuals alone.
And there is no reason to overestimate trade ballance as an indicator as well.
They aren’t export too much apart from oil, but they aren’t import everything from China as well.
There are Russian-built motor vehicles, consumer electronics, including HDTVs and mobile devices, other appliances including cheap plastic things which aren’t Chinese-made. They still have Russian textile and shoes, and, surprisingly, these shoes fits, unlike earlier Soviet shoes. A little of the above is exported, being consumed domestically, but it still contributes to economy. When have you seen a US-made HDTV or shoes last time?
BTW, did you know that Russia is not only growing enough wheat to consume domestically but also a major exporter now? And we are talking about a country having a ‘bad weather’ in a period between 1914 and late 1990s, forces to buy all the wheat in US and Canada just a couple decades ago.