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.”
The head of the Turkish Agriculturalists Association, Ibrahim Yetkin, was equally upbeat, describing the deal as an “incredible opportunity” with little competition. The Turkish press was jubilant, with one headline calling the deal an “embargo lottery for Turkey.” Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that Moscow “welcomed the Turkish producers’ intentions to increase meat, fishery, fruit and vegetable exports to Russia.”
A year later, however, the export data speaks of huge disappointment. According to the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM), exports to Russia stood at $2.76 billion for the first nine months of 2015, a 39.6% decrease from $4.57 billion for the same period last year. The economic crisis in embargo-stricken Russia, marked by curbed purchasing power due to currency depreciation, has been a major factor in pushing down Russian demand. In addition, Turkish exports have been undermined by returned shipments found to contain contaminated products, which, by the way, are allegedly resold to the Turkish market.
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