Earlier this month, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, Rosselkhoznadzor, stated that it was “ready” to boost imports of Turkish tomatoes, according to Hürriyet Daily News.
Russia banned many Turkish products, including tomatoes, following Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet at the end of 2015. Last November the country lifted restrictions on imports of Turkish tomatoes, but implemented an import quota.
On 19 March, Turkey’s Minister for the Economy, Nihat Zeybekci expressed Ankara’s dissatisfaction with the situation.
“We are absolutely against the limit on number of companies,” he said. “If necessary we can do the same. We will import by choosing between companies.”
However, on 3 April Rosselkhoznadzor revealed that it had asked the Turkey’s Agriculture Ministry to provide a list of companies wishing to supply tomatoes to Russia, adding that its experts were ready to visit said companies.
In total, 14 Turkish companies are now allowed to supply tomatoes to the Russian market.
