MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Food exports between Russia and Turkey look set to drop by at least $800 million in 2016, with trade flows predicted to stay below the $19-billion mark, the Russian deputy minister for economic development said Wednesday.
"I think that we will not see [bilateral trade turnover] exceed the $18-19 billion mark," Alexei Likhachev said, noting that this was a record low compared to previous years.
"In the food department, this [the drop] will be at $800 million," the deputy minister added.
He noted that the slide in food export figures corresponded to the cost of trade restrictions that Russia put on Turkey earlier this year.
Relations between Moscow and Ankara were strained by the downing of Russia’s Su-24 frontline bomber over Syria by a Turkish jet on November 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ankara of a stab in the back and decreed curbs on food trade with Turkey.
