PodcastTurkey buys sugar from Russia for the first time in history
Russia delivered its first batch of exported sugar to Turkey and Greece in November. The Turkey shipment was 1,400 tons and the one to Greece was 591 tons. Russia is expected to set a record for production levels with more than 7 million tons this year, according to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.
Duvar English
Russia carried out its first deliveries of sugar to Turkey and Greece in November, shipping 1,400 tons to the former and 591 tons to the latter.
Expert Yevgeny Ivanov from Russia's Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) has said that the increase in exports is crucial for national market conditions, Russia's government-published daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported.
"This is the fourth season that we have excess product and prices have dropped significantly in the national market," Ivanov has said.
Ivanov has added that Russia delivered sugar to Montenegro by sea in 2011 and to Egypt in the spring of 2017.
"If we needed sugar, why did we sell our sugar refineries?"
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Member of Parliament from Uşak Özkan Yalım questioned the imports in the context of Turkey's sugar refineries being sold. Having provided significant agricultural income for Turkey, the sugar refineries were sold to foreign private parties in 2018.
“If we needed sugar, why did we sell our sugar refineries? It makes me sad that our farmers can't grow sugar," Yalım said.
Russia is expected to set a record for production levels with more than seven million tons this year, according to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture. IKAR is predicting a total of 7.2 to 7.6 million tons this year.