Market participants told the radio station that the customs system began to block the processing of orders, and specifically for goods that are imported into the Russian Federation through parallel imports. Some linked this to the recent visit to Ankara by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Washington has previously threatened Turkish companies with punishment for circumventing sanctions.
Companies began to receive notifications that goods in transit for Turkey are no longer sent to Russia, on March 8. They were not ready for such a turn – now everyone is urgently looking for alternative routes.
At the same time, market participants doubt that the Turkish authorities will officially announce the termination of transit. An official order in this regard would be proof that Turkey has been participating in the supply of sanctioned products to Russia for the past year. So companies from the Russian Federation will have to check everything in practice.
Turkey did not join the sanctions that its NATO allies imposed against Russia after the start of the military operation in Ukraine. At the same time, against the background of large-scale restrictions, the export of goods from Turkey to Russia in the summer of 2022 reached record levels.
Neither in Europe nor in the United States were they happy with such a development of events. For example, the coordinator of sanctions policy at the State Department, James O’Brien, used to scare Turkish companies with secondary sanctions for non-compliance with restrictions on Russia. According to him, the United States, if necessary, is ready to take such a step, despite the fact that this will not have the best effect on the already difficult US-Turkish relations.
At the end of February 2023, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Ankara. Has it really been possible to convince the Turks not to cooperate with the Russian authorities?
By the way, in Russia they started selling iPhones already activated abroad. This is due to the fact that Western companies that are still cooperating with the Russian Federation and supplying goods through parallel imports are afraid to fall under US sanctions. What are the risks of buyers of such gadgets, read here.
