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52 I Southeast Europe bne September 2022
A container ship sails through the Bosporus Strait. / Sakhalinio, cc-by-sa 4.0.
out trade. It is possible for Russian busi- ness people can buy real estate and create a local company to obtain Turkish citizen- ship. They can then send products to Rus- sia from the European Union and Far East via their new Turkey office address.
The shipments to Russia are often
made by Turkish container companies, mostly by sea, with global giants such as Maersk, Hapag Lloyd and Hamburg Sud having ceased transporting goods to Russia. Land, air and rail routes are also reportedly used.
“I was in [the southern port of] Mersin last week. Due to the loads coming from all over the world and to be transferred to Russia, the warehouses in Mersin are full to the brim,” Mehmet Serkan Erdem, Turkey general manager of Rif Line, was quoted as saying, adding: “In some instances, these cargoes are sent to Russia with the ships of Turkish ship owners, and in others many Russian trucks are coming to Turkey to transport these goods.”
Erdem claimed many EU companies have been buying goods from countries such as China and Indonesia and sending them on to Russia via Turkey.
purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, [Russian parent company] MMK, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024,” the US Treasury said.
Cargoes arriving from around the
world are unloaded at Turkish ports
and switched to Turkish ships heading for Russia after “embargo screening,” according to the Dunya article. The goods
are sent on without being registered as imports to Turkey, it added.
The newspaper article comes as Erdogan prepares to meet Putin once more, on August 5 in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Also according to the publication, to smooth goods flows to Russia, some Rus- sian firms are opening offices in Turkey and entering into partnerships to carry
Drought damage to European grain harvest piles on top of Ukraine war impact
bne IntelIiNews
Extreme heat and droughts across several European countries have led to forecasts for this year’s harvests being reduced.
Coming on top of the disruption to global grain markets caused by the
war in Ukraine – the war disrupted the spring sowing season and Ukrainian Black Sea ports have been blockaded by Russia – this adds to fears of shortages in import-dependent countries and is expected to further push up prices.
The July 2022 edition of the JRC MARS Bulletin published by the EU’s Joint
www.bne.eu
Research Centre said its yield outlook for EU summer crops has been “sub- stantially reduced”, citing the “hot and/ or dry weather conditions in large parts of Europe”.
This includes the crops in some eastern EU members, specifically northern Romania, eastern Hungary and western and southern Ukraine, which have suffered from drought and very high temperatures with a “strong negative impact” on summer crops.
Romanian farmers, meanwhile, estimated that the country’s wheat crop will drop this
year by 25% year on year to 9mn tonnes as a result of the drought, as reported by Ziarul Financiar. Romania is typically responsible for around 10% of the EU’s wheat output and a quarter of its exports.
Croatia, Slovenia and eastern Slovakia also experienced precipitation deficits, which together with the heatwaves in July shortened the grain filling of winter crops and spring barley, with negative impacts on expected yields.
Other problem areas were parts of Spain, southern France, central and northern Italy – all affected by a long