Turkey confirms that it has stopped the transit of goods to Russia since March 1

The Turkish authorities decided to follow Western sanctions and stopped the transit of goods to Russia on March 1. This happened amid pressure from Washington.

Source. Bloomberg reports with reference to a Turkish official.

The blocking of exports of sanctioned goods to Russia was confirmed to the agency by Mustafa Boyacioglu, chief executive officer of the Istanbul-based customs company Subasi. According to him, there used to be no problems with products that were first imported to Turkey and then shipped to Russia. Now restrictions have been introduced based on the country of origin, he said.

"The system of cargo clearance in Turkey has simply stopped working," Yekaterina Lazutkina, co-owner of Vendor Cargo, told the agency. According to her, the customs platform blocks products intended for shipment to Russia.

In 2022, Turkey, which did not join Western sanctions, became one of the largest suppliers of goods to Russia: exports to Russia increased from $5.8 billion to $9.3 billion.

This increase in trade showed that the US and the EU had difficulty creating a united front against Putin, who unleashed the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg notes.

In the end, Washington called on Ankara to "limit the flow of goods" to Russia that were sanctioned, Bloomberg reported in February. This even included products of the military-industrial complex. According to American data, in March-October, the volume of such exports reached $800 million.

Now Russia risks losing its ability to circumvent Western sanctions at Turkey's expense. However, Russian businesses have already begun to look for ways around this. The UAE may become a new hub for the supply of banned products.

Background. Earlier it became known that the largest hub for circumventing sanctions in the Emirates was hit by the US and EU sanctions.