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.
I wouldn’t argue that oil brings the most profit for the Russian government,
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Well, my only point was that the best way to throttle russian adventurism is to collapse the price of oil. Because the Russians like the Mexicans fund their government with the money they rake off the business. The russian government takes such a big bite out of oil revenues that they have to depend on outside financing to pay for the enormous upfront capital costs of the oil exploration.