The volume of supplies from Turkey to Russia in February decreased by 33% – to $670 million compared to $1 billion for the same period in 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic.

At the end of two months of the year, Turkish exports to the Russian Federation amounted to $1.29 billion. A year earlier, it exceeded $2 billion. Currently, Russia accounts for only 3.2% of Turkey’s total exports. In February, the leaders in this indicator were Germany ($1.72 billion) and the United States ($1.33 billion). 

Imports from Russia to Turkey also fell by more than a third (36.65%) last month, from $2 billion to $1.3 billion year-on-year.

A similar trend was observed in January. Then exports from Turkey to Russia collapsed by 39%, to $631 million, compared to $1 billion for the same period in 2023. For a number of goods, trade has completely ceased. In particular, this affected machinery, a Reuters source said.

The reason for the reduction in trade turnover was the risk of secondary sanctions from the United States. On December 22, 2023, American President Joe Biden allowed the Ministry of Finance to introduce restrictions against foreign financial organizations that help service transactions involving sanctioned persons from the Russian Federation or facilitate the supply of equipment to the Russian military-industrial complex.

After this, banks in Turkey began to reconsider relations with clients from the Russian Federation for fear of losing access to the dollar, which accounts for almost half of global financial transactions. The situation also affected Russian oil exporters, who stopped  receiving money for barrels sold to Ankara.

In January, similar problems arose with India, which refused to accept 14 tankers carrying Sakhalin Sokol crude after Rosneft failed to open an account in the UAE to receive payment in dirhams.

In early February, Turkish banks  began to close accounts of Russian companies. Moreover, if previously only those who were under sanctions were subject to restrictions, now this has extended to almost everyone.

The Kremlin said that they were conducting a dialogue with Turkey to find a solution to the problem. By February 20, some banks in the republic resumed direct payments with Russia, but only on the “green” list of goods, which includes food, medicine, agricultural products and textiles.

(C)MOSCOW TIMES 2024