Russian-Turkish economic cooperation is actively developing these days. Particularly notable successes were achieved in the field of energy. This is the unanimous opinion of the participants of the international conference 'Russia and Turkey: strengthening of multifaceted cooperation', which was held in Moscow today.
The Russian Deputy Energy Minister, Anatoly Yanovsky, speaking at the conference, reminded that our "supplies of gas to Turkey started in 1987 and continue to this day." "Russia, realizing that Turkey's economy needs more energy resources for its development, signed an agreement for the construction of 'Blue Stream' in 1997. Currently, gas is supplied through two pipelines, which completely satisfy the demand of the Turkish side. About 30 billion cubic meters of gas are going through these two routes," he reported.
"Earlier this year we examined the issue of Turkish Stream. The draft agreement was transferred to the Turkish side. The change of government and elections in Turkey have complicated the issue. It is difficult to take responsibility for making these decisions. Implementation of this agreement will allow to provide a supply of about 16 billion cubic meters for domestic consumption, as well as for export to the Balkans," he said.
The director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America of the Ministry of Economic Development, Yevgeny Popov, also spoke about the active development of economic cooperation between the two countries. "Recently, the volume of trade turnover reached the level of 30 billion dollars. In terms of absolute values, for Turkey, according to statistics, the Russian Federation is only slightly inferior to Germany and is the second-biggest partner as a whole, the first in imports and the seventh in exports. For Russia, Turkey is the sixth in exports and the seventh in imports," he reported.
"The contacts of the leaders have a regular nature. The economic ministers have met six times over the last year. Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has not spoken so often with anyone. We prepared a program of cooperation for 2016-2019 – it is a road map for sectoral development," Popov added.
He highlighted the achievements in the field of tourism, because Turkey is the most attractive for Russian citizens for spending vactions there. "This year it was visited by more than 2 million of our fellow citizens. Although there is a decline, it is not critical. We will increase the dynamics," he assured.
Speaking about the development of bilateral cooperation in his field, the head of the Association of Nuclear Energy of Turkey, Zafer Alper, stressed that "the nuclear power plant is a revolutionary project for us." "It makes a huge contribution to the development of various areas of the economy," he noted.
