The largest volume of imports by weight was ammonia. However Finnish imports of Russian ammonia have dropped steeply since last month.Image: Petteri Bülow / YleYle NewsSTT8:52Finnish imports from Russia increased in the first half of this year, the Uutissuomalainen news group reports, citing information obtained from Customs.The EU has imposed increasingly stringent sanctions against Russia since it began its full-scale assault on Ukraine nearly four and a half years ago.However Finland is still importing some Russian products that exempt from sanctions – and some companies have continued illegal imports and exports of sanctioned items.Since 2022, Finland's imports from Russia have dropped from around nine billion euros annually to around one billion euros.In the first four months of this year, the value of those imports grew by roughly five percent year-on-year. They totalled 285 million euros, up by 15 million compared to the same period of last year.Based on value, the largest share of this was nickel and related products. Based on weight, ammonia was the most frequently imported item.However, the flow of ammonia used to produce fertilisers to Finland is decreasing due to recent EU sanctions and customs duties on Russian rail transport.As of the beginning of July, Finland stopped importing mineral fertilisers from Russia by rail.