Russia and Turkey are striding towards their bright future together having buried the hatchet. While flocks of Russian tourists crowd charter jets to get to their favorite Turkish resorts, imports of fruit and vegetables pour back to Russia and the Turkish Stream is about to rush.
The recent negotiations on introducing the ruble/lira pair on the Moscow exchange is another step towards bringing the countries together. The sides discussed possible variants of cooperation in the sphere of national payment systems. Overall, the bilateral working group demonstrated tremendous results in establishing financial and bank ties. The valid memorandum on interaction between the Russian and Turkish central banks is planned to be revised in the nearest term. The document will be updated in accordance with the new realities, the Bank of Russia said.
In late August Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci announced good news for the Russian tourists saying that they may be able to pay in the national currency in Turkey. Interestingly, this announcement was not the first one. The country’s authorities repeatedly said that payments with Russia can be converted into national currencies. For example, Deputy Economy Minister Adnan Yıldırım touched upon this issue in March. Moreover, in 2010 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkey introduced all necessary amendments to its legislation in order to make it possible to settle accounts with Russian companies in rubles. Maybe, six years later he will be able to fulfill his promise.
