Russian – Turkish economy summit
The Russian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Kazan, the capital of the autonomous Republic of Tatarstan in Russia, was the main news last week.
Energy, military and technical cooperation, agriculture and joint investments were the main topics of the meeting represented by Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.
As the result of the meeting, Russia has backdated the import of 50 thousand tons of Turkish tomatoes to Nov. 1, one month ahead of the original schedule.
The countries also agreed to start works on phase two of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant construction and on the procedure to allow truck drivers obtain visas quicker.
Russia also announced that they would like to start meat and poultry exports to Turkey’s markets.
Speaking after the meeting, Zeybekci said that, “Restrictions create new restrictions. We must remove all the barriers so that we can reach the target of $100 billion in mutual trade.”
Russia banned many Turkish agricultural imports, including tomatoes following the downing of a Russian fighter jet in 2015. However, while most of these barriers were removed, the ban on tomatoes remained.