Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at September 8th, 2008

The delays caused by Russian authorities on Turkish export products have cost Turkish companies $500 million to date, Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said Sunday.

It was unacceptable for Russia to make it difficult for Turkish exports to enter the Russian market, Tuzmen told reporters in Ankara.

“We have not yet been able to solve the difficulty with Russia. Our Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici held a meeting with the Russian Customs chairman (to solve the problem) in Istanbul,” Anatolian Agency quoted Tuzmen as saying. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 5th, 2008

Turkish and Russian customs officials said on Friday that the recent dispute that erupted after Russian customs imposed tighter controls on Turkish exports is expected to be solved within a week after the signing of a protocol for simplified customs relations.

Turkish customs undersecretariat officials headed by Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici and head of Russian Federation’s customs service, Andrei Belianinov and his deputy Igor Zahrazhnov met in Istanbul.

“The officials from both parties will meet in Moscow next week and the problems at customs will be solved following the signing of protocol,” Yazici said at a joint press conference with Russian officials. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 4th, 2008

Opinion by Mehmet Ali Birand
source: Turkish Daily News

Turkey’s relations with Russia seem to be going through a major crisis. This impression was created through the simultaneous concurrence of the export and Georgia crises. We all associated the two events with each other. In fact, there had been no connection between them.

I heard that from the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister as well as some top-level officers of the Turkish Foreign Affairs Ministry. The first crisis originated from the mutual misinterpretation of the recently signed customs agreement.

Russians say that Turkish exporters did not comply with the set criteria and did whatever they felt like doing. Turkish authorities, on the other hand, deny these allegations and state that Russia acts this way only in order to intimidate the Turkish side.

It looks as if this issue is soon to be settled. It was said that the two sides would reach an agreement within a short period of time if they sat around a table to discuss the situation instead of making mutual threats.

Russia approves Turkey’s attitude:

Lavrov’s visit to Turkey has helped the public both here and abroad to get rid of their incertitude on certain points. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 4th, 2008

Turkey and Russia are expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement on a rail ferry connection between the ports of Samsun in Turkey and Kavkaz on the Kerch Strait on Russia’s Black Sea coast during the visit of Turkish President Abdullah Gül to Moscow in December, the Turkish Daily News has learned.

“We are working to connect Kavkaz and Samsun, both port cities that have access to railways, with a ferry connection. Our aim is to develop rail and road systems in the Black Sea region,” Aleksandr Davidenk, head of the Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport at Russia’s Ministry of Transport said yesterday at Yugtrans-2008 maritime conference in Istanbul.

Alternative transport routes

The plan to connect Samsun and Kavkaz by a rail ferry link comes at a time when the pressure on Russian roads and shortage of port facilities for large deliveries has attracted criticism in several countries trading with Russia. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 2nd, 2008

Due to a new Russian policy, Turkish trucks are forming long queues at Russian borders as average customs proceedings for Turkish trucks take 20 to 40 days.

Turkey is now on the verge of losing long-standing, balanced commercial relations with its top trade partner. The predicted total loss to Turkish firms as a result is about $1 billion so far and, should the problems continue, this number may exceed $3 billion by the end of the year. On the other hand, Russia claims to have lost $26 billion due to contraband passing their borders.

The Cihan news agency yesterday quoted Vladimir Zubkov, press spokesperson for the Russian Federal Customs Service, as saying that the Russia is not singling out Turkish goods, as similar customs regulations apply to other countries, too. “We have problems mostly with Turkish goods at our customs points, but Turkey should not be held responsible for this. We just want to control our borders firmly and record the goods that pass our customs points from now on,” Zubkov said. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 2nd, 2008

Turkey has grown increasingly concerned that a crisis over customs procedures between itself and Russia may spread to gas and petroleum commerce. Natural gas demand in Turkey spikes in the winter and has been met by Russia every year.

At the moment, 60 percent of Turkey’s natural gas and about half of its crude oil demand are supplied by Russia. Any possible disturbance in crude oil needs can be supplied from other countries and the international spot market. However, a similar solution for a natural gas crisis is not available. Experts do not think Russia would cut gas imports completely, but they worry that Russia may not provide more gas than already promised. In such a case, Turkey would likely be faced by a serious energy crisis. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 2nd, 2008

Turkey has stepped back from implementing full-fledged Customs inspections on trucks from Russia and vehicles carrying goods of Russian origin, which had been devised as retaliation against actions taken by Russian Customs authorities on Turkish exporters attempting to cross the Russian border.

Following a Cabinet meeting yesterday Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesperson Cemil Çiçek announced that negotiations for a solution with Russia would continue in the days ahead. A proposal floated by Minister of State for Foreign Trade Kürşad Tüzmen to retaliate for non-tariff barriers imposed by the Russians was not approved, he added.

Tüzmen had announced on Friday that Turkey would officially launch a package of measures against Russia on Monday by placing it in the high-risk country category. Russia recently labeled Turkey a high-risk country. Tüzmen had said earlier on Monday that Russian goods were “in the red channel,” meaning Turkish Customs officials would physically check Russian goods at border crossings, in lieu of relying solely accompanying documentation. Turkish officials would also implement the “red channel” against goods from third parties to Russia, forcing Russian goods to wait at the border. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 1st, 2008

Russia has expanded the coverage of non-trade barriers against Turkish exporters to this country by enforcing a complete inspection of Turkish trucks coming from Europe.

Already extremely discontent with the tightened controls on Turkish goods at the Russian border — as this causes serious losses to Turkish trade — Foreign Trade Minister Kürşad Tüzmen’s tone was once more that of anger when commenting on this newest development, saying, “This is clearly a non-tariff barrier.”

Speaking to the press after meeting his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming in Beijing, Tüzmen said steps to normalize relations through diplomacy seem to have failed so far. As he announced on Friday, Turkey is poised to initiate a package of measures to counter the Russian obstacles on the basis of reciprocity. In other words, Turkey will place the Russian Federation into the category of high-risk countries and will incur full-fledged inspections to all trucks coming from Russia.

Russia says lengthy inspections of trucks from NATO-member Turkey, which coincide with tensions between Moscow and the military alliance over the Caucasus, where Russia this month fought a short war with Georgia, are due to a new customs law. (more…)