Kommersant FM: Turkey stopped the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia

Turkey without warning stopped the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia, the customs system blocks their clearance, informed Kommersant FM with reference to market participants. According to them, it is precisely the sanctioned goods that enter the country through parallel imports that are stuck.

“Even yesterday, we started receiving notifications from agents that previously agreed flight bookings were being cancelled. They said that the reason is that goods in transit for Turkey are no longer sent to Russia. Last night, they began to receive letters stating that the Turkish customs system is blocking the transit clearance of goods of non-Turkish origin,” said the general director of the Optimalog logistics company. He added that this morning the system is still blocking clearance.

According to the commercial director of Transasia Logistics, Valeria Savenkova, the company does not expect official orders and resolutions on this matter, “because otherwise Turkey would have made it clear that it was involved in the supply of sanctioned products to Russia over the past year.”

Some Kommersant FM interlocutors attribute this restriction to the recent visit to Turkey by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The radio station, citing the Financial Times, also notes that pressure is being exerted on the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which have become the center for the supply of electronics to Russia.

In September last year, TASS, citing data from the Assembly of Exporters of the country informedthat Turkey in August 2022 set a record in the history of the republic for the export of goods to Russia. “The volume of exports for one month amounted to $738,527,000. This is 87.2% more than in the same month last year,” the organization noted.