Turkey, Russia can reach a trade volume of $100bn

Turkey- Russia Joint Economic Committee (JEC) 12th Term Meeting was held in the southern province of Antalya with participation of Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Sources Taner Yildiz and Russian Minister of Energy Aleksandr Novak. Speaking to reporters in a portion of the meeting that was opened to the press corps, Taner Yildiz stressed that there was potential to increase thetrade volume of 34 billion USD with Russia. We believe Turkey and Russia can reach a trade volume of 100 billion USD as set forth by our leaders, Yildiz underlined. We have discussed many issues with my "friend" Novak and his team on Saturday, Yildiz noted. "Many sectors were handled in this meeting. We touched on all matters which support our economic and strategic cooperation from energy to transportation and from agriculture to industry. Around 1,500 Russian companies now operate in Turkey. Turkish contractors are involved in projects in Russia which are worth 50 billion USD," Yildiz said. "Turkish agricultural products will begin to be sent to Russia again via Georgia," Yildiz stated. "While fresh fruits and vegetables get exported to Russia, we will begin exporting milk and milk products to Russia," Yildiz noted. I believe that Turkish-Russian cooperation could continue in third countries, Yildiz stated. Russian Energy Minister Novak, in his part, said that today's meeting was not only attended by public officials but by representatives of the private sector. We discussed today various issues including the metallurgy factory in Turkey, transfer of natural gas safely and reducing the tariff on international roaming, Novak stressed. Following the brief speeches, Yildiz and Novak signed the JEC protocol. Representatives of Turkish and Russian companies signed various agreements among themselves.