For the first time in recent years Moldova's balance of trade deficit has hit a record high of $1.02 billion, which is 56.2 percent more than in the similar period last year; and although exports have been on the increase lately, it wasn't enough to offset constantly growing imports, Info-Prim Neo reports. In four months of 2008, exports rose by 28.3 percent to reach $482 million, while imports surged 46 percent to $1.49 billion. 12 countries accounted for nearly 86 percent of Moldova's total exports. Most of them went to the Russian Federation, totaling slightly more than $95 million, followed by Romania with $93.9 million, Italy with $53.8 million, Ukraine with $44.9 million and Belarus with $30.8 million. The leader of Moldova's imports is, again, Russia, with about $228 million, thanks to the elimination of trade barriers. The second is Ukraine with $223 million, followed by Romania with $193 million, Germany with $114.3 million, and Italy with $91.9 million. As the National Statistics Bureau shows, exports to the European Union have increased in the reporting period, rising to $246.4 million USD, which means 51.1 percent of the total. CIS member countries accounted for 40.2 percent of Moldova's exports, which corresponds to a value of $194.6 million. The largest gap between what Moldova sold to a country over this period and what it imported was registered with Ukraine – $179.9 million. The next was Russia with nearly $133 million, Romania with $97.4 million, Germany with $88 million, China with $84.7 million, and Turkey with $61.7 million.