Turkey

Russia lifts ban on some Turkish farm imports

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October 11, The Russian government on Tuesday lifted a ban on some food imports from Turkey, imposed last year after Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, in the latest sign of a warming in ties with Ankara.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision to end the ban on Monday in Istanbul, where the two countries agreed to build an undersea gas pipeline to Turkey.

A government decree said Russia had lifted the ban on imports of fresh and dried oranges, tangerines and other citrus fruit, as well as apricots, peaches and plums.

Both sides have since made significant progress to mend relations and agreed to revive trade relations in July after President Tayyip Erdogan expressed regret over the shooting-down of the Russian plane.

www.uk.reuters.com

Russian companies are interested in fresh fruit and vegetables from Turkey

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The West Mediterranean Exporters Association (BAIB) reported that they had received their first order of fresh fruit and vegetables from Russia after attending the WorldFood Moscow Exhibition, organised between the 12th and 15th September.

In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan re-established normal relations between the two countries, putting an end to a year of hostility, although the ban on import of some fruits and vegetables to Russian from Turkey has not been lifted yet.

BAIB president, Mustafa Satıcı, stated that they had attended the WorldFood Exhibition to raise awareness of Turkish produce as the fresh fruit and vegetable sector recovers and sanctions on Turkish exports are lifted.

Satıcı added that Russian companies had shown an interest in a wide range of fruit and vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, pomegranates, oranges and lettuce.

www.freshplaza.com

Turkish ban reduced quality of fruit and vegetables in Russia

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The quality of fruits and vegetables in Russian stores has allegedly deteriorated after the introduction of the product embargo on Turkey, according to a study of the investment bank Morgan Stanley, which has studied the impact of a possible lifting of the sanctions against Turkey.

“We visited some federal and regional chains to look at the quality of the fruit and vegetables on offer. While the stores we visited may not be a representative sample, our experience revealed a decline in the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables,” says the report.

The Morgan Stanley study draws attention to the fact that, after the imposition of the embargo on some Turkish fruit and vegetables, Russian retail chains have switched to imports of fruit and vegetables from countries of North Africa and the Middle East. This, according to investment bank analysts, led to a loss of quality and a rise in the price of these products.

Analysts say that the blame is unlikely of retailers. “Russia had to switch to suppliers of North Africa and the Middle East, such as Egypt, Morocco, Israel or Algeria, to replace products which are usually imported from Turkey (tomatoes, peppers, peaches, citrus, etc.). This suggests long delivery distances, which often leads to lower quality, and sometimes to, higher prices,” said Morgan Stanley.

“If Russia does not lift the ban on the import of fruits and vegetables from Turkey and continues importing them from North Africa and the Middle East, the quality may deteriorate further and prices could become even higher,” concluded the study.

Morgan Stanley also predicted that the lifting of the embargo on Turkish products would not strongly affect the level of inflation in Russia. Earlier, a similar forecast was made by the Economic Development Ministry.

Lastly, Morgan Stanley analysts noted that given the significant devaluation of the rouble, which has led to higher prices for imported goods, Russian consumers have started buying less fresh vegetables and fruits, especially imported. In the annual survey which Morgan Stanley conducted in February 2016, 30% of respondents admitted that they were less likely to make purchases in supermarkets; a third of respondents admitted they were more likely to buy the agricultural products in the markets, while more than 20% have started to grow their own vegetables and fruit and about 10% share products with friends and family.

www.freshplaza.com

Russian embargo caused Turkey to lose $209m in Q1

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Russia’s Economic Development Ministry said in its report for January – June 2016 that Turkey lost $209 mln in the Q1 of 2016 due to the food embargo introduced by Russia on certain imports to the country.

“Import of goods prohibited from January 1, 2016, to enter the Russian Federation from Turkey, in the Q1 of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 decreased by $209.1 mln,” the document said.

The Russian government banned supplies of a number of food products from Turkey to Russia from January 1, 2016. Fruits (oranges, tangerines, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches and nectarines, plums, wild strawberries and strawberries) and vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, yellow onions) were banned. The restrictive measures were adopted after the Turkish air forces shut down the Russian Su-24 bomber over the territory of Syria.

As TASS reported earlier, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Services of Russia and Turkey are going to hold consultations on removing restrictions in trade of Turkish agricultural products.

However, earlier Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev told journalists that Russia is in no hurry to open its market for Turkey, because it is necessary to support domestic producers.

www.freshplaza.com

Iraq replaces Russia for Turkish citrus exports

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Turkey’s National Citrus Council’s (UTK) Financial General Assembly recently took place in Mersin. In 2015, Russia was Turkey’s biggest market for citrus exports, worth 90.52 million dollars, so far in 2016 Iraq has taken their place with exports to the country worth 84.54 million dollars. The president of the council, Kemal Kacmaz said that out of the target for 10 billion dollars of fruit and vegetable exports by 2023, citrus should occupy a 3.5 billion dollar share.

Kacmaz says that the production and export of citrus is an important sector for the country; between January-April 2016, out of the citrus produced in Turkey 527,507  tons were exported bringing in 272.89 million dollars of revenue.

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New restrictions on the supply of Turkish fruit and vegetables will not cause prices increase in Russia

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According to Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, new restrictions on the supply of fruit and vegetables from Turkey will not cause prices increase in Russia.

“Everything that could affect food prices in Russia have already happened. Immediately after the introduction of sanctions and counter-sanctions prices rose by 200-300%, mostly due to the loss of supply channels. Now new channels are created. We import fruit and vegetables from Iran, Abkhazia, Armenia.  Two years ago we were in a vacuum, and now there is no vacuum”- said Igor Artemyev.

In the spring of 2016, Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) banned the import of some categories of plant products from Turkey for phytosanitary reasons. So, in March and April, the agency banned the import of Turkish pepper, eggplant and pomegranate. On May 16, they banned shipments of lettuce and iceberg lettuce from Turkey, on May 19 – squash and pumpkins.

Rosselkhoznadzor representatives said earlier that the list of prohibited goods could be expanded, including Chinese cabbage, lemons and grapefruits. But due to the readiness of Turkey to discuss the current situation, further restrictive measures have not yet accepted. On Wednesday, Sergei Dankvert, head of department, told reporters that as for now Rosselkhoznadzor has no plans to ban import of all fruits and vegetables from Turkey.

January 1, 2016, Russia imposed a ban on the import of a number of agricultural products from Turkey. The country can not export to Russia strawberries, oranges, tangerines, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, some vegetables.

www.fruit-inform.com

Russian retail is negotiating the supplies of fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan

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The largest Russian retail chains are negotiating the supplies of fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan. Magnit, Auchan, 6 sotok, Essen and others showed their interest in Uzbek fruits and vegetables.

After the visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Russia and negotiations with Vladimir Putin, a number of Russian companies sent the request for Uzbek fruit and vegetables.

According to the inner source, a long-terms agreements for 5 and 15 years are being negotiated.  Uzbek companies suggest one price for the year.

Long-term agreements will allow Uzbek companies to focus on the production of the necessary volumes of exports of agricultural products and form logistics. Distributional centers for logistics, storage, processing, export will be created in 11 regions of Uzbekistan. Fruit and vegetables will be supplied there from the fields, where they will be stored in refrigerators for further shipment to export or processed into finished products.

When the sanctions are over, Uzbek companies will have some advantages, for example, Turkish companies work separately, and Uzbek companies act as a united group, although a lot is to be done.

www.fruit-inform.com

Morocco profits from boycott

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Morocco profits the most from the Russian boycott of Turkish fruits and vegetables, according to Russian media. According to reports, the North African country is the most important supplier of tomatoes and oranges. The country supposedly has a market share of 55.6 per cent in citrus, 30.2 per cent in vegetables and 25.7 per cent specifically in tomatoes.

www.freshplaza.com

 

Syrian fruit and veg arrive on Russian retailer shelves

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The first shipments of Syrian fruits and vegetables, bound, in part, to replace the Turkish products covered by the import ban, have started arriving to Russia, as reported by the importer Adyg-Jurak to the newspaper Kommersant.

“Syrian fruits and Vegetables are already being delivered by Adyg-Jurak to the wholesale and retail firm Food City. Talks are also underway with other large Russian retailers,” informs the magazine.

CEO Aslan Panesz said that last week marked the arrival to the port of Novorossiysk of the second batch of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, tomatoes and cabbage, with a total weight of about 3 thousand tonnes.

During the delivery of the first batch, some problems occurred, as about 1.2 thousand tonnes of food stayed in the port for more than 10 days because of issues in the customs documents, with the result that some of the products spoiled. During the unloading of the second batch, these problems have been solved.

Currently, products are on the shelves of Moscow’s wholesale-retail center Food City and several wholesale centre in the south of Russia.

Russian retailers are also beginning to purchase Syrian fruit and vegetables. In April, Metro Cash&Carry is going to sell Syrian pomegranates (2 MT), cauliflower (4MT), pepper (20 MT), eggplants (10 MT) and eggplants. Since this is the first shipment of fruits and vegetables from Syria, the company imported small volumes for analysis of the demand for these products. According to Metro Cash & Carry representative, the retailer sell 300 MT of fruits and vegetables per day on average.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, since the beginning of the year to March 13, food import from Syria to Russia  amounted to $ 2,389, the total amount of deliveries – about 5,000 MT. Food export from Syria to Russia rose by almost 3 times during one year.

www.freshplaza.com, www.retailer.ru

Russia closes borders to Turkish trucks

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The boycott of Turkish products has huge consequences for the Turkish economy. The export of fruit and vegetables decreased strongly. In January 2015 the country exported 215.2 million dollars worth of fruit and vegetables. This year in the same month it was 132.7 million dollars.

But another drama for the Turkish economy has been added unnoticed. Russia has not extended an agreement on transport and passage of trucks at the border. The treaty ended on February 1st. This means that Turkish trucks cannot cross the border and are denied access not just to Russia, but also to the Central Asian Hinterland. Russia is also making it difficult for Turkish transporters for temporary licenses. The alternative route by ferry through Azerbaijan has insufficient capacity.

www.freshplaza.com