The goal in exporting food to Russia is exceeding 1 billion dollars
The food industry, leaded by the Agriculture and Forestry Minister Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli, visited Russia, which is the sole country considered as the target market of all exporting industries in Turkey, for settlement of problems experienced in exportation operations.
In a 9-month period, the Turkish food industry exported food items worth 610 million dollars to Russia and the goal in exporting to Russia is to exceed 1-billion dollar limit.
The Agriculture and Forestry Minister Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli presided at the Turkish Delegation at the Turkish-Russian Federation 2nd Term Agricultural Executive Committee Meeting and he had discussions with the Russian Federation’s Agriculture Minister Dimitri Patrushev and other officials for improvement of agricultural cooperation and trade between Turkey and Russia.
An Agriculture Business Meeting was held at the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Agriculture with the Agriculture and Forestry Deputy Minister Mehmet Hadi Tunç and the Russian Federation’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sergey Levin and businesspeople.
The problems encountered at the Russian customs during exportation of Turkish food items to Russia were discussed at the meetings and then both parties expressed their constructive approaches towards settlement of these problems.
The Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association Chairman Hayrettin Uçak, Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters’ Association Chairman Davut Er, Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association Vice Chairmen Mehmet Ali Işık and Gürcan Şen, Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association Board Member Nejat Almış and Supervisory Board Member Erkan Geyik, Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association Board Member M. Ata Özdemir and the Aegean Aquatic and Animal Products Exporter’ Association Supervisory Board Member Haluk Taktak represented the Aegean Exporters’ Association on the delegation organized by the Agriculture and Forestry Minister Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli for visiting Russia.
The goal in exporting food items to Russia is exceeding 1 billion dollar
The Aegean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association Chairman Hayrettin Uçak reported that Turkey exported food items worth 610 million dollars to Russia in 2018 and the fresh fruits, vegetables and products industry accounts for 423 million dollars of it and reminded that the Russian customs have recently started to keep Turkish food items for unnecessarily longer periods but some improvements were discussed during the visit in Russia for overcoming these problems; he noted that Turkey will try to export food items worth over 1 billion dollars to Russia following the actions to be taken in the upcoming period.
The Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters’ Association Chairman Davut Er highlighted that their goal is to make Turkey the second leading producer in the world by 2023 with olive oil production of 650 thousand tons and the leader producer with table olive production of 1 million 200 thousand tons and he added that they consider Russia as a significant option to transform surplus olive and olive oil production in Turkey into added value. “We want to improve the power of our olive and olive oil industries in the Russian market. For this purpose, we will have Sectoral Trade Delegation and Procurement Delegation Organizations. For us, it was a fruitful business trip” said Mr. Er.
The Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association Vice Chairman Mehmet Ali Işık noted that they want to increase the volume of dried fruit and organic product exportation to Russia and they plan to organize a “Sectoral Trade Delegation” for Russia through the recently launched Development of International Competitiveness Project (URGE).
Exportation of food items to Russia increased by 31 percent
In 2018, Turkey exported products worth 2 billion 497 million dollars to Russia during the period between January and September and the food items account for 610 million dollars of this exportation volume.
Our general exportation to Russia increased by 41 percent and the increase in exportation of food items was recorded as 31 percent.
The fresh fruits and vegetables industry marked a highest total of exportation to Russia; 417 million dollars and it is followed by the automotive industry with 342 million dollars. The chemicals industry and garment industry followed these industries with 283 million dollars and 204 million dollars, respectively.
