OREANDA-NEWS  Turkey's imports of Russian goods have significantly decreased, reaching the pre-sanctions level in June 2023, the RBC news agency reports.

According to the Turkish Institute of Statistics, purchases of Russian products in June amounted to $2.91 billion, which is the lowest monthly figure since October 2021. Thus, imports decreased by 43% by June 2022 and by 36% by May. Due to this, China took the first place in the supply of goods to Turkey. But so far, Russia still holds the lead in terms of share for the first six months of the year — 13.4% of Turkey's total imports against 12% from China.

In June, supplies of oil, petroleum products, gas, and coal decreased by $1.76 billion or 20% compared to the previous month. At the same time, energy carriers, in general, account for more than 60% of all Turkish imports from Russia.

Experts believe that the decline in imports is due to the macroeconomic situation in Turkey itself and the change in its economic policy after the presidential elections in May. In addition, the decrease in imports from Russia could be partly due to politics, as Russian-Turkish relations deteriorated due to Turkey's position on the grain deal.

Earlier it was reported that the head of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, predicted a crisis in Europe this winter due to the situation on the energy market, primarily gas supplies to the territory of the Union and the level of prices for it.

Earlier it became known how long oil will remain the main source of world energy.