Kremlin says Turkey’s imposing duties on Russian wheat won’t affect bilateral ties
By Kamila Aliyeva
Duties imposed on Russian wheat and corn by Turkey will not affect the normalization process of bilateral relations, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS on March 17.
"No, it cannot [influence]," Kremlin’s spokesperson said responding to a question whether introduction of duties on Russian wheat and corn by Turkey can affect the process of normalizing relations between Moscow and Ankara.
Peskov did not answer the question whether Russia may lift the ban on tomatoes import from Turkey in the nearest future. "The Agriculture Ministry should be asked," he said.
Turkey has deprived Russia of the right to free supplies of wheat, corn and sunflower meal. The Turkish government had not given an explanation for the change in policy.
A fee of 130 percent on these products may be imposed, which in fact means the actual shutdown of supplies.
“Turkey from March 15 suspended the issuance of licenses for duty-free supplies of wheat, corn and sunflower meal from a number of countries, but primarily, this relates to a key supplier of Russia,” General Director of the Institute for agricultural market studies Dmitry Rylko said.
Turkey is the second buyer of Russian wheat after Egypt. Between July 2016 and February 2017, Turkey imported about two million tons of wheat from Russia.
Russia imposed damaging trade restrictions on Turkish goods after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border in November 2015, but the two countries are currently passing through normalization process. A great progress has been seen recently due to the visit of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Moscow last week.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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