Shipping companies latest to feel effects of “West’s very tight blockade against Turkey’s banking system", says report

By bne IntelliNews March 5, 2024

Shipping companies are the latest to feel the effects of “the West’s very tight blockade against the Turkish banking system”, according to a report by Turkish publication Ekonomim.

In December, the US announced that any financial institutions enabling business with Russia could be subject to secondary sanctions, with Washington determined to raise the effectiveness of the Ukraine War-triggered sanctions it has imposed on Moscow. There are indications in Turkey’s official trade figures that the move is achieving the kind of results US sanctions enforcers are hoping for. Ekonomim noted that the Turkish trade ministry has received “a pile of complaints” from companies over banks’ refusals to make remittances from Russian financial institutions.

The authorities, it also reported, have started carrying out some transactions through one of Turkey’s state banks, but the move does not cover all export items.

Sources in Turkey’s shipping sector told the publication that Turkish shipowners acquired additional vessels for trading with Russia but, partly due to the current problems in obtaining payments for goods, ships were standing idle in port.

Shipping representatives also complained that there were difficulties in competing with transit companies that were continuing to deliver cargoes while ignoring sanctions, operating without official insurance and using alternative payment methods.

Related Articles

Russia for first time overtakes Turkmenistan in gas exports to China

Russia in February for the first time overtook Turkmenistan on a monthly basis to become the largest pipeline supplier of natural gas to China, according to General Administration of Customs of China ... more

South Africa's Zuma tries to sell carbon credits to Russian NGO after Zimbabwe failure

Former South African President Jacob Zuma is discussing trading carbon credits with a Russian NGO, facilitated by a new Belarusian entity, according to ... more

Republic of Congo expands oil partnerships, eyes closer ties with Azerbaijan

The Republic of the Congo’s President Denis Sassou-Nguesso is diversifying the West African country’s oil and gas partnerships in search of reliable allies to explore its substantial reserves, ... more

Dismiss