Russian
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak recently paid a working visit to Turkey,
where he met with Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Turkish Minister of
Trade Omer Bolat to discuss current issues of Russian-Turkish bilateral
interaction.
As
co-chairman of the Mixed Intergovernmental Russian-Turkish Commission on Trade
and Economic Cooperation, Novak chaired the 18th plenary meeting of
the commission.
Among the
main areas of cooperation between the two countries, Novak highlighted
interaction in the energy, agriculture, financial, banking, industrial,
transport, logistics, customs, and tourism sectors. Russia is seeing positive
trends in numerous other areas of bilateral cooperation as well, specifically
healthcare, space, standardization, accreditation, cadastral registration,
education, and sports.
In 2022,
Turkey was Russia’s second largest foreign trade partner, with bilateral trade
turnover almost doubling by 85.8%. In January–October 2023, Russian-Turkish trade
turnover increased by 49.8% in physical terms compared with the same period of
last year.
“Turkey is
receiving stable supplies of Russian gas. We would like to note the successful
development of cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
We continue to implement our flagship project – the construction of the Akkuyu
NPP. Full-scale construction work is currently underway at the sites of all
four nuclear power plant units, which makes the Akkuyu site one of the largest
nuclear construction sites in the world,” Novak said.
Novak
underscored Russia’s readiness to expand cooperation in the nuclear sector,
including a project for renewable energy sources at the Akkuyu NPP to obtain
additional electricity. Russia is interested in its contractors participating
in the construction of the new Sinop NPP in Turkey, as well as in the
construction of low-power nuclear plants and the use of non-energy sector
technologies.
Russia and
Turkey have solid prospects for cooperation in nuclear medicine, the
manufacturing of products from rare metals, composite materials, and energy
storage devices based on lithium-ion batteries, as well as technologies for
water desalination, water treatment, and waste incineration. The two countries
are also discussing joint projects in the metallurgy, automotive, light, and
chemical industries.
Over the
first 10 months of 2023, Russian-Turkish trade turnover of agricultural
products increased by 4.2% compared with the same period of 2022, and
improvements have also been made in the safety of food products supplied from
both countries. In the first three quarters of 2023, Turkey accounted for 22%
of all trips abroad by Russian tourists, which accounted for 13.2% of the
foreign tourist flow to Turkey. The meeting participants discussed such issues
as transport accessibility, unimpeded entry, non-cash payments, financial
payments, the safety of tourists in Turkey, as well as prospects for expanding
cruise traffic with Turkey in the Black Sea.
Novak
invited representatives of the Turkish government and business to take part in
the Caucasus Investment Forum in May 2024 and Russian Energy Week on 26–28
September 2024 in an effort to strengthen the intergovernmental dialogue, as
well as showcase developments in the manufacturing of energy equipment and
technologies.
At the end
of the meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Turkish Commission on Trade and
Economic Cooperation, the parties signed a final protocol, while the General
Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of the Turkish Ministry of
Environment, Urbanisation, and Climate Change and the Russian Federal Service
for State Registration, Cadastre, and Cartography signed a memorandum of
understanding.
Source: Official website of the Russian government.
