In Feb. 2024, the volume of deliveries from Turkey to Russia decreased by 33%, $670 million, compared to $1 billion for the same period in 2023.
How much did Turkish exports to Russia decrease?
According to the results of two months of the year, Turkish exports to the Russian Federation amounted to $1.29 billion. A year earlier, it exceeded 2 billion dollars. Currently, Russia accounts for only 3.2% of Turkey's total exports. According to this indicator, Germany ($1.72 billion) and the United States ($1.33 billion) became the leaders in February.
Imports from Russia to Turkey last month also fell by more than a third (36.65%) — from $2 billion to $1.3 billion year-on-year.
A similar trend was observed in January. Then, exports from Turkey to Russia decreased by 39%, to $631 million, compared to $1 billion for the same period in 2023. For many products, trade has completely stopped. In particular, this affected machinery, a source told Reuters.
What is the reason for the decrease in Turkish exports to Russia?
The reason for the decrease in turnover was the risk of secondary US sanctions. On Dec. 22, 2023, US President Joe Biden authorised the US Treasury to introduce restrictions against foreign financial organisations that help service deals involving sanctioned persons from the Russian Federation or facilitate the supply of equipment to the Russian military industry.
After that, Turkish banks began to review relations with clients from Russia for fear of losing access to the dollar, which accounts for almost half of the world's financial transactions. The situation also affected Russian oil exporters, who stopped receiving money for barrels sold to Ankara.
In January, similar problems arose with India, which refused to accept 14 tankers of Sokol Sakhalin oil after Rosneft failed to open an account in the UAE to receive payment in dirhams, the media reported.
At the beginning of Feb.2024, Turkish banks began to close the accounts of Russian companies. At the same time, if previously only those under sanctions were subject to restrictions, now it has spread to almost everyone.
