"No, it cannot," he said, answering the corresponding question.
On Thursday, Russia’s National Association of Exporters of Agricultural Products (NAEAP) called on Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev to take measures to restore export of agricultural goods to Turkey. According to the NAEAP, the Turkish authorities have suspended issuance of import licenses for Russian grain cultures and vegetable oil on March 15.
Earlier on Friday, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexey Gruzdev said that the Turkish authorities did not confirm imposing any restrictions, and promised to look into the matter.
Russia banned imports of many Turkish agricultural products from January 1, 2016 in response to the downing of a Russian plane by a Turkish jet near the Syrian border in 2015. Since the introduction of the restrictions, Moscow has both excluded several products, such as citrus fruit, from the list, and temporarily prohibited a number of other goods, including eggplants, due to sanitation concerns.
On March 10, the Russian government allowed the import of Turkish broccoli, onions and cauliflower, among other products.
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