Turkish banks have stopped accepting transfers from Russia: interruptions in trade are possible, – media

Since early January, remittances have almost stopped, hampering exports from Turkey.

Turkish exporters are faced with the problem of banks refusing to process money transfers from Russia to pay for goods. This was reported by the Turkish publication Ekonomim.

It is noted that since January 1, money transfers have almost stopped. This could cause major disruption to exports and an urgent solution is expected to allow trade to continue.

Journalists claim that exporters cannot receive payments in Turkish lira and rubles from Russia. Transfers from some banks are being bounced back, and some banks have begun refusing transactions they previously accepted, citing “prohibited products.” It has also become difficult for Russian companies to do business in Turkey.

“It has been learned that exporters in the automotive sector have not received their remittances since the beginning of the year, and it is alleged that exports have stopped due to non-payment of collections. It has also become known that Turkish manufacturers working for a Russian company, which makes the largest purchases in Turkey, footwear sector, were unable to receive any payments from their Russian clients this month,” the publication writes.

The authors of the article point out that problems with remittances may be caused by the expansion of EU sanctions when the buyer is included in the list, even if the exporting company in Turkey sells goods that are not subject to sanctions. In addition, Turkish banks do not want information to appear on their balance sheets that they act as intermediaries in ruble transactions or money transfers from Russia.

The Turkish Ministry of Trade began studying this issue and began collecting demands from companies that were unable to receive remittances.

Turkey could take such a step to get out of the gray list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the publication adds.

(C)UNIAN 2024