Armenia fails to capitalize on Russian sanctions against Turkey
06.07.2016,
19:18
Armenian companies failed to capitalize on sanctions Russia imposed against Turkey last year, economist Vilen Khachatryan told a news conference today.
YEREVAN, July 6. /ARKA/. Armenian companies failed to capitalize on sanctions Russia imposed against Turkey last year, economist Vilen Khachatryan told a news conference today.
Russian-Turkish relations deteriorated following the downing of a Russian Su-24 aircraft by a Turkish F-16 fighter jet in Syria on November 24, 2015. In the wake of the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree imposing economic and other measures against Ankara, including ban on imports of Turkish fruits and vegetables.
According to Khachatryan, Armenian exports to Russia in 2015 constituted $244 million. In the first five months of 2016 they were worth $132 million.
"About 20% of Armenian exports go to Russia, which suggests strong integration between the countries. As a result, Russia remains Armenia’s major trading partner," he said, adding that several months were not enough for Armenian farmers to boost production of vegetables to step up exports to Russia.
Khachatryan said Armenian and Turkish economies are incomparable as Turkish GDP is 70 times higher than that of Armenia.
"In 2015 Turkey exported $600 million worth fruits to Russia, and $336 million worth vegetables. Armenia exported $16 million worth fruits to Russia and $17 million worth vegetables," he said.
According to the economist, it was Iran as well as Russian farmers that benefited most from the worsened Russian-Turkish relations.
"In my opinion, Armenia’s benefits from the Russian ban on Turkey could at best amount to $20 million, which is not a great advantage. In terms of tourists inflow Armenia neither received benefits, because Russians prefer to vacation at seaside,’ he said.
According to statistics, the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in 2015 amounted to $1.173.9 billion, a decline of 18% from 2014. Armenian exports to Russia amounted to $225.9 million, a drop of 26.7%, while Armenian exports to Russia in the first 5 months of 2016 actually doubled year-on-year to $132.3 million.-0-
