Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has held talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mehmet Şimşek, in Moscow. The meeting was attended by several Russian and Turkish officials. Arkady Dvorkovich said apologies offered by Russia’s Turkish partners had created a reliable basis for the resumption of bilateral relations. “The Prime Minister has signed a directive on the resumption of the intergovernmental commission’s work. I believe that this will allow us to move forward,” Mr Dvorkovich said in his opening remarks.
The meeting focused on bilateral cooperation in different areas.
Arkady Dvorkovich answered questions from the media after the talks.
Transcript of the briefing:
Arkady Dvorkovich: During my meeting with our Turkish colleagues, including the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy and other officials, we discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to our bilateral relations, such as trade, investment and other areas where restrictions were introduced in November after the events in Turkey when the Russian plane was shot down and the Russian pilot killed.
After a telephone conversation between our leaders, we were instructed to hold consultations on the gradual de-freezing of trade, economic and investment relations and the resumption of cooperation in basic areas. Today we discussed the steps for this.
We discussed the resumption of charter flights. Consultations have been held on this issue between the ministries concerned. We forwarded our recommendations to our Turkish colleagues, who have accepted them. They have invited our experts to come to Turkey in order to check on the security measures in airports, resorts and other places frequented by tourists to see whether these measures suffice to recommend that the Russian Government approve the resumption of charter flights.
However, the actual resumption of charter flights will take more time, because the airlines will need to prepare.
I’d like to remind you that regular flights have resumed, and Russian citizens can buy tours and accommodation in Turkey, and can fly on regularly scheduled Russian and Turkish flights.
Regarding visa requirements, we have agreed that our foreign ministries, law enforcement and security agencies will hold consultations. We want guarantees that people involved in extremism and terrorism will not enter Russia. When the agencies concerned come to terms on this issue, we will prepare a decision to lift visa restrictions.
We have also decided to grant the request of our Turkish partners for separate consultations on lifting restrictions on travel by business and several other categories of travellers as a priority. However, the final decision will be taken following consultations between the concerned agencies.
The Russian and Turkish ministries of agriculture and veterinary and phytosanitary control agencies will hold consultations on bilateral trade today and in the next few days.
We also need to develop relations between our quality control and inspection agencies regarding the safety of Turkish products. In principle, we know these products very well, but the market situation tends to change with new products and requirements, and so we need to streamline our relations as soon as possible.
As for other restrictions, we have agreed to hold consultations in the Economic Development Ministry today, to be attended by experts from other agencies, as well as in the Transport Ministry, in order to lay the groundwork for the upcoming meeting between our leaders.
We also discussed some investment projects, including plans for the Akkuyu nuclear power station. Certain progress has been made on this issue. Our Turkish partners are working to complete the legal framework for this project, and we hope to make considerable progress on this.
Regarding Turkish Stream, our Turkish partners have reaffirmed their interest in resuming the dialogue on this project. The Energy Minister will meet with his Turkish colleagues today for talks on this issue.
We have also raised several other issues pertaining to the Turkish restrictions on Russian products and investments. They concern specific cases. I won’t go into details now, but we will insist that these restrictions are lifted as soon as possible so that Russian companies and Russian business do not sustain any losses in relations with their Turkish partners.
Overall, we have agreed to gradually return to the level of relations that we had in the past and to move ahead in some areas.
Question: When will our experts be able to go to Turkey?
Arkady Dvorkovich: The travel experts will be able to go to Turkey in the next few days, and the same is true for agricultural regulator Rosselkhoznadzor. These visits must be made and conclusions reached before the meeting of our leaders.
Question: Mr Dvorkovich, when will charter flights be resumed?
Arkady Dvorkovich: This will depend on the airlines rather than on political decisions. We see no political obstacles to preparing our decision. As for the airlines, I cannot tell you when they will be ready; this is for them to decide.
Question: Would it be expedient to build the Turkish Stream pipeline, considering the situation in the region, the instability and security problems?
Arkady Dvorkovich: There are risks in any region, but there are also economic benefits. We were aware of these risks when we decided to launch the Turkish Stream project, and so there are few additional considerations now.
Question: Which direction is the bigger priority and more interesting to Russia now?
Arkady Dvorkovich: It’s clear that Nord Stream II has moved further ahead. We are conducting consultations on this project with the EU. But there are divided opinions in Brussels.
As for Turkish Stream, we are only at the beginning. However, we could move ahead very quickly on this project, given the sides’ good will.
Question: Is the route to Bulgaria a lesser priority?
Arkady Dvorkovich: The EU has not provided a specific response to any of the proposed variants. The speed of the implementation of any of these projects depends mainly on Brussels.
Question: And the throughput capacity too?
Arkady Dvorkovich: Exactly.
