REUTERS
The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation together with the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) are studying the possibility of a partial return to the Russian market of imports of tomatoes from Turkey, which was banned in 2016, the Russian business daily Kommersant reports with reference to the manager of the producer of greenhouse vegetables and representatives of the industry association.
The supplies should begin in October 2017 by several Turkish enterprises licensed by Rosselkhoznadzor, according to the report. At the first stage, the imports of Turkish tomatoes are to be allowed before April-May 2018.
Market participants expect that Turkey will have time to bring to Russia 100,000-300,000 tonnes of tomatoes until the summer of 2018. For comparison: according to the National Fruit and Vegetable Union, the import of these vegetables from Turkey in 2015 amounted to 338,000 tonnes.
Read alsoTurkey PM: No compensation to Russia over downed Su-24Russia banned the imports of most of fruit and vegetables from Turkey from January 1, 2016 after the incident with a Russian Su-24 bomber shot down over the Syrian-Turkish border. In addition to tomatoes, the embargo included onions, cabbage, cucumbers and citrus fruits. After the normalization of relations between the countries, Russia began to gradually lift restrictions from October 2016, allowing the supply of Turkish citrus, and from March to September, it lifted the ban on the import of onions, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, apples, grapes, salad, etc.
Read alsoRussia threatens Turkey with new import restrictionsDuring the embargo, Turkey also limited the supply of food from Russia. In March 2017, the country introduced protective duties on the import of Russian wheat (130%) and sunflower oil (36%). The restrictions were lifted in early May 2017 after talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the Gaidar Institute and the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the losses of the Russian agro-industrial complex from Turkish restrictions were estimated at $1.3-1.5 billion. In May, importers from Russia experienced interruptions with obtaining licenses for duty-free import of products to Turkey.
In 2016, the consumption of greenhouse tomatoes in Russia decreased to 865,000 tonnes against about one million tonne two years earlier. This is largely due to the closure of Turkey, a market participant said. According to him, the return of cheaper tomatoes from this country will force Russian agrarians to reduce prices for their products, which, on the one hand, will reduce profitability, but on the other hand, will increase demand. According to the materials of the National Fruit and Vegetable Union, Turkish tomatoes may cost cheaper than Russian ones by RUB 40 per one kg.