Report: Turkey lifts restrictions on imports of Russian wheat

ST. PETERSBURG, Jun 1 (PRIME) -- Turkey hav lifted all restrictions on imports of Russian wheat, and Moscow is ready to continue mutually beneficial cooperation with Ankara, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov said in an interview with NTV television channel broadcast on Thursday.

“There is no more (scandal) today. Everything is open in Turkey, they are waiting for us there. We will continue the cooperation on the basis of mutual benefits. The grain market of Turkey is a priority for us, we sell more than 3 million tonnes of grain there. These figures are good,” he said.

In March, Turkey slapped a 130% duty on imports of Russian wheat, corn and other products cancelling the country’s duty-free regime. The market saw the step as an attempt to exert pressure as Russia is yet to unban imports of Turkish tomatoes and some fruit after an earlier conflict involving downing of a Russian Su-24 jet by Turkish air forces.

On May 3, President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow and Ankara will abolish all mutual trade restrictions except for Turkish tomatoes. On May 22, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the two countries agreed on mirror-like abolishment of restrictions, and on Wednesday, Putin signed a decree to abolish certain restrictions.

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