Turkey began to block the transit of sanctioned goods that are | Import Export Agent in Russia & EU

Turkey began to block the transit of sanctioned goods that are shipped to Russia from unfriendly countries. The authorities do not officially comment on the situation, but market participants attribute the actions of customs officers to pressure from the United States.

According to the market players, the Turkish customs system removed the possibility of selecting the Russian Federation as the destination country for declaring goods in the T1 transit. This means the end of transit in the usual sense, and will lead to an increase in the cost of all shipments by the amount of Turkish domestic duties and VAT (which is mainly 18%). In fact, it kills the economic sense in the Turkish route.

According to some market players, the Turkish transit embargo will be lifted after the launch of a dollar-free customs clearing, the activities of which will not be monitored by U.S. authorities and U.S. correspondent banks. Turkish authorities are interested in transit to Russia, which amounts to about $1 billion a month, so the launch of such a center is a matter of short-term perspective.