Last week, the Russian Vedomosti newspaper reported about Turkey’s new restrictions on import of grains from Russia, specifying that, according to its data, Russia’s share in supplying Turkey with grain should be some 20-25 percent of the entire grain import. The newspaper stressed that the Turkish side provided no official information on the matter to date.
"There were no official restrictions. Therefore, there can be no official documents. There were just demands of Turkish officials, who issue licenses for duty-free imports… they said that 25% of the goods might be imported without customs duties, while fees for the rest of the goods should be paid," Zlochevsky said, adding that there was no such requirement any more.
Russian-Turkish trade has been facing significant difficulties since 2016 when Russia introduced a food embargo against Turkey in response to the 2015 downing of a Russian aircraft over Syria. In March, Russia’s National Association of Exporters of Agricultural Products (NAEAP) said that the Turkish authorities had suspended issuance of import licenses for Russian grain cultures and vegetable oil on March 15.
In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, with the two leaders agreeing to further ease mutual restrictive measures. Russia, however, insisted on keeping restrictions on Turkish tomato imports as well as postponing the reintroduction of a visa-free regime for Turkish nationals.
