Following much speculation over when Russia might lift its import ban on Turkish tomatoes, the ex-Soviet county has now reportedly decided to give the green light but only at certain periods when there is no local production.

Publication Dailysabah reported three companies would initially be eligible to export tomatoes to Russia. 

Turkey, previously a huge tomato exporter to Russia, faced an embargo for numerous fruit and vegetable crops after it downed a Russian military jet in 2015.

The sanctions were implemented in January 2016 and applied to products including citrus, tomatoes, apples, grapes and cherries. Restrictions were later lifted after normalization talks began, with the exception of tomatoes.

A Russian delegation recently visited Turkey for talks, which resulted in the proposal to pave the way for exporting in the seasons Russia cannot produce tomatoes.

The export permit is expected to take effect within a few months, the story reported. 

Russia estimates that the tomato prices in the market will also drop as a result of renewed visa exports of tomatoes from Turkey, according to Dailysabah.

In 2014, Turkey exported US$508 million in tomatoes and cucumbers to Russia, while prior to the embargo, almost half of tomatoes consumed in Russia came from Turkey.

Tomato prices reportedly rose around three-fold in the Russian market following the ban.

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