Turkish, Russian economic relations were once again on the agenda as Russian officials visited one of Turkey’s oldest trade shows, the 86th Izmir International Fair last week.
As a partner country in the forum this year, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak headed the crowded Russian delegation.
However, both countries failed to reach a concrete agreement in bilateral agricultural trading. Both sides missed the opportunity to get Turkey’s tomatoes back on the Russian market, or for Russian red meat exports to Turkey.
In response to the question on whether new U.S. sanctions would affect the timetable for the construction of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline project, Novak underlined that the project would continue according to schedule, as long as the interests of the parties involved remain.
-Slow recovery continues for Russian economy
According to the latest figures announced by the Federal Service for State Statistics (Rosstat), the Russian economy is continuing modest growth in the first half of this year at 1.5 percent.
However, Russia’s real income dropped by 0.9 percent in July compared to the same period last year. Retail revenue also dropped by 0.2 percent in the January to July period this year to 16.3 trillion rubles.
While Russian officials continue to voice that the economy has recovered from the crisis in 2014, the numbers clearly indicate that the country has still a long way to go before it can reach a healthy economic state.