The customs system has started to block clearance for goods intended to cross into Russia, according to Kommersant FM. After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, these shipments have been covered by Western sanctions.
Market participants quoted by the publication described Turkey’s stance as a surprise and said they are now seeking parallel import routes as alternatives.
“Just yesterday, agencies that had previously booked flights began to cancel. They explained that cargo routed to Turkey was no longer being sent to Russia. Last night, letters arrived indicating that Turkey’s customs system is blocking transit of goods not of Turkish origin. This morning the system appears to block everything again,” said Georgy Vlastopulo, managing director of Optimalog, to Kommersant.
Valeria Savenkova, commercial director of Transasia Logistics, noted that there was no expectation of formal orders from Turkey. Ankara had to acknowledge that Russia assisted in circumventing sanctions and sent restricted goods toward Russia. He added that information would likely surface informally and practically. To date, the transit and export processing system to Russia in Turkey is nonfunctional, he stated.
Journalists observed that the market participants cited Russia’s recent handling of sanctions as a factor behind the halt in sanctioned goods, linked to the visit by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Turkey.
According to the Financial Times, the United Arab Emirates, which has become a major electronics supplier to Russia, has also faced pressure from Western authorities that imposed restrictions on Russia.
Blinken’s visit
On February 20, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Turkey to meet with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Izvestia reported at the time that the talks did not reach a substantive agreement. A key objective for Blinken was Turkey’s stance on Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a move Ankara had blocked. Negotiations did not yield a final deal.
Beyond support for Ukraine, Blinken and Erdoğan discussed closer cooperation on bilateral issues including defense, energy, and trade, as outlined in a U.S. State Department press release. The aim was to enhance alignment on security and economic matters.
Çavuşoğlu stated at a joint press conference that Turkey would remain neutral on Russia in the broader context of their stance. Turkey does not participate in sanctions and will follow UN resolutions, he said, promising that Ankara would not facilitate Moscow by moving around restrictions.
growth in trade
In October of the previous year, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Vladimir Ilyichev noted that trade between Russia and Turkey for January through September 2022 reached 47 billion dollars, double the figure from the same period in 2021. He projected the total trade turnover with Turkey for all of 2022 would exceed 60 billion dollars.
The official highlighted that energy products dominated exports to Turkey, with non-resource non-energy exports rising by about 19 percent to reach 10.5 billion dollars. Deliveries to Turkey were rising significantly in sectors like timber and cellulose, as well as timber processing products, with chemical industry goods such as plastics and rubber also increasing substantially, according to the ministry’s representative.
He added that Russia had boosted supplies of certain metal products to Turkey, while European sanctions reduced estimates of metal product availability in Turkey. Despite logistical hurdles, there was a clear uptick in exports to Turkey, alongside increased imports for obvious reasons, he remarked.
Following the February talks with Blinken, officials noted that the upsurge in trade was partly driven by changes in energy prices, notably the higher cost of natural gas that Turkey sourced from Moscow. The rise in the cost of energy helped lift overall trade volumes between the two nations, the speaker added. In essence, the increase in trade reflected a shift in the energy landscape rather than a broad expansion across all sectors.