Turkish exports to Russia fell by 28% in the first half of the year

Exports of goods from Turkey to Russia in the first half of 2024 fell by 28.3% compared to the same period in 2023, to $4.16 billion (versus $5.8 billion in the first half of last year). This information was released on July 31 by the Turkish statistical agency TurkStat.

In June 2024, Turkey sent goods worth $670 million to Russia (a month earlier - $784 million), which is almost 30% less than in June last year ($956 million).

Since the beginning of 2024, the media have regularly reported problems with payments from Russia to Turkey for the supply of goods. The immediate cause was the decree of the US President , signed in December 2023: it introduced a mechanism of American sanctions against banks of third countries for interaction with the Russian military-industrial complex. On June 12, 2024, the United States expanded the definition of the "military-industrial complex" of Russia to include all companies (organizations) and all individuals who have been or will be subject to sanctions after April 2021. As a result, the number of sanctioned Russian entities, interaction with which may become the basis for American secondary sanctions, has actually increased several times.

In February, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov cited “completely unprecedented, overt and aggressive pressure” from the United States on Turkey, financial and other companies as the source of the problems.

Nevertheless, Turkish exports to Russia are at historically high levels. Compared to the first half of the "pre-sanctions" 2021, Turkish exports to Russia have increased more than one and a half times.

Turkey's imports of goods from Russia also decreased in the first half of the year . The indicator decreased by 10.3% compared to the same period last year, to $22.04 billion, TurkStat reported. At the same time, Turkey's imports from Russia even increased in June - by 1.2% compared to June of the previous year (to $2.95 billion). The main share of such supplies are energy resources. At the same time, Reuters reported in March that sanctions difficulties also affected Turkey's payments for imported goods from Russia.oil .