Proposal for a Russian-Turkish free-trade zone and customs union

During the G20 summit in September, Nihat Zeibeckhi, the Turkish minister of economics, proposed to Alexey Ulukaev, the Russian minister of economic development, that their two countries create a free-trade zone and customs union that would include Turkey, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

Trade between Russia and Turkey is stronger than ever, and both Russia and Turkey have ambitious economic goals. Russia would like to see USD 100 billion in turnover in trade with Turkey by 2020, and its leading politicians long to reduce the country’s dependency on American dollars. For its part, Turkey has set a goal of doubling its GDP by 2020, and exporting Turkish automobiles and light industrial goods to Russia in order to offset recent reductions in these sectors from European Union suppliers may contribute to that goal. In its basic form, the free-trade zone would eliminate tariffs among its member states, while the customs union would establish common tariffs on goods coming from states that are outside the union.

For more information on this topic as well as on possible Turkish investment in Crimea and the potential of Turkish automobile exports to Russia, see the 21 October newsletter from ART DE LEX titled New Opportunities for Turkish Businesses and Investors available at http://artdelex.ru/eng/reviews/informatsionnyi-obzor-dlya-biznesa-i-investorov-turtsii-vypusk-4-2014.

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