Turkey looks set to benefit from Russian sanctions targeting EU and U.S. products, as Russia looks for an alternative supplier of foodstuffs, especially fruit and vegetables, according to Turkey's Agriculture Ministry.
On Wednesday, Russia banned imports of fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, scallops, milk and dairy from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway in retaliation for Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.
Turkish Agriculture Ministry officials met with their counterparts on Wednesday to discuss how Turkey's agriculture sector can meet this shortfall. The talks were focused on how procedures for exporting to Russia could be simplified and how the number of Turkish firms licensed to export goods to Russia could be increased.
Separately, Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov, told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that Russia primarily wants to increase its imports of traditional agricultural products such as fruit, vegetables from Turkey.
“Turkey's traditional agricultural products are the primary attraction for us. Taking serious offers from Turkey, I think we will expand the volume of trade between two nations”.
In the last seven months period, Turkey's exports to Russia were valued at $7.09 billion with the main export products being textiles, yarn, fabrics, manufactured goods, vegetables and fruits.
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