The quality of fruits and vegetables in Russian stores has allegedly dropped thanks to the ban on Turkish food imports, according to a study from investment bank Morgan Stanley.

 

The study was undertaken to examine the impact of a possible lifting of sanctions against Turkey which have been in place since late 2015.

 

“We visited some federal and regional chains to look at the quality of the fruit and vegetables on offer,” the report said. “While the stores we visited may not be a representative example, our experience revealed a decline in the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables.”

 

Since Russia’s embargo against Turkey was put in place, Russian importers have had to look further afield for import substitution. According to Morgan Stanley, this has had a detrimental effect on both product quality and price. 

 

The report did not outright state that the produce coming from countries such as Morocco, Egypt or Israel was of a fundamentally poor quality. Rather, Morgan Stanley attributes this drop off to longer transit times affecting the freshness of products meant for export to the Russian market.

 

In the first half of 2016, Russia imported agriproducts worth $92 million from Turkey – a significant drop compared with the $451 million worth of Turkish goods imported by Russia across the same period in 2015.

 

Relations between Turkey and Russia have softened greatly across August. After a meeting on August 9 2016 between Presidents Putin and Erdogan, Russia suggested it could lift its Turkish food embargo by the end of year. 

 

Russia’s Economic Minister Alex Ulyukayev stated it would be a gradual process, and pointed out that any outstanding issues regarding food exports would have to be resolved bilaterally. 

 

Nevertheless, any signs of reconciliation between the two nations, in terms of food, will be excellent news for both Russian and Turkish importers and exporters.

 

Source: hronika.info