The Financial Times says that Turkey is often an intermediate destination for Russian companies.
The flow of goods from Turkey to Russia has increased significantly this year. This adds to concerns between the US and its allies that the country is acting as a conduit for sensitive products from its own manufacturers. It was reported by the Financial Times.
To show that curbing trade has become a priority for Washington, Brian Nelson, the US Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will visit Istanbul and Ankara this week. This is Nelson’s second trip to Turkey this year.
Efforts to stop this trade with Russia have been complicated by the fact that these goods are intended for both commercial use and military needs.
In the first nine months of 2023, Turkey reported exports of 45 items considered “high priority” by the United States to Russia and five former Soviet countries, worth $158 million. This is three times the level recorded during the same period in 2022, when Russia’s war against Ukraine began.
The average figure for 2015-2021 is $28 million, according to a Financial Times analysis of the Trade Data Monitor’s customs database data. Forty-five categories of goods, including items such as microchips, communications equipment, and components such as optical sights, are subject to US, EU, Japanese and UK export controls aimed at preventing importing them to Russia.
Turkey and the UAE are often intermediate destinations for Russian companies seeking to use multi-step import routes to avoid controls, an EU sanctions watchdog said.
Official data from Turkey showed an increase in declarations of exports of priority goods to the former Soviet countries of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, but the statistical agencies of these countries did not record a corresponding increase in imports. Analysts say this wide discrepancy suggests that goods that Turkey said were destined for middlemen were brought directly to Russia.
We remind you that the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has contacted official Ankara and is waiting for clarification and reaction to the visit of representatives of the Russian occupation administration of the city of Yalta in Turkey.
Source: korrespondent
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