Russian market huge disappointment for Turkey
Turkey’s hopes of replacing European countries as a major food exporter to Russia have been dashed.
Last year, the Russian government banned imports of meat, dairy items, and fruit and vegetables from European countries in response to the sanctions they had imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis. At the time, it was also announced that the affected products would be supplied by Turkey, sparking optimism in Ankara and among Turkish exporters.
Turkey’s then-Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker said that Russia was especially interested in animal products, milk, dairy items, white meat and fish. In August 2014, a Russian delegation traveled to Ankara to discuss the issue and received a list of Turkish companies active in the relevant sectors. Ibrahim Yigit, chairman of the parliament’s agriculture commission and who took part in the talks, said, “We reached an agreement with Russia. Technical teams have begun work on the issue. This is something very profitable for Turkey. We have to make good use of this opportunity. Our exports to Russia totaled 3,346,000 tons, now they will reach 5 or 6 million tons. We used to supply 1.1 million tons of fresh fruit and vegetables to Russia; now the amount will reach 3-4 million tons.”
