Import of Turkish tomatoes is prohibited from 2016, may be renewed in October. On Monday, September 11, the newspaper “Kommersant”, citing familiar with the situation sources.
According to interlocutors of the edition, the Ministry of agriculture and Rosselkhoznadzor is considering the possibility of experimental import of vegetables amount to 300 thousand tons. Thus, according to the newspaper, the government cannot come to a consensus on this issue.
On 31 August the Minister of agriculture of Russia Alexander Tkachev admitted the possibility of resuming the supply of Turkish tomatoes for the upcoming winter-spring in small batches. “We see that all political questions are settled, and, of course, we must renew our turnover,” he said, reversing his earlier assertion that Russia is not ready to purchase Turkish tomatoes and will not do.
August 10 National fruit and vegetable Alliance estimated that in 2016, the total production of tomatoes increased by 18 percent, bringing the country’s self-sufficiency in this crop to about 40 percent. The loss of Turkey after the ban of exports of tomatoes to Russia amounted to two billion dollars.
In 2015, the Turkish air force shot down a Russian su-24 bomber engaged in anti-terrorist operations in Syria. After that Russia has imposed against Turkey sanctions, in particular banning the import of certain food products. In June 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has apologized for the Downing of the Russian plane, after which Moscow gradually began to remove restrictions. But the restriction on the import of Turkish tomatoes are still preserved.