Russia bars Turkish companies from construction, tourism, hospitality business on Jan 1

Companies operating under Turkey's jurisdiction or controlled by Turkish citizens will be barred from construction, tourism and hospitality business, design and engineering, and public and municipal services in Russia starting on January 1, 2016.

The list of works has been approved by a Russian government resolution.

Turkish companies will also be barred from woodworking in Russia.

The document said that the ban would not apply to works and services executed under contracts which were signed before the government resolution took effect.

The balance is not in Russia's favor, First Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexei Likhachyov said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 (VGTRK) television channel, speaking of the restrictions on services. Turkey provides up to $13 billion worth of services to Russia, mostly in the field of tourism and construction.

"There will be a manifold decrease and we may achieve a balance: $4-4.5 billion worth of services supplied by us will be balanced with possible supply of services by Turkish companies," Likhachyov said.

"Are there exceptions from this list? Globally, there are two. The first one is the so-called 'grandfather clause,' which means the ban will not apply to the contracts closed before the resolution took effect. This means that everything closed de jure until today will have the right to be executed in accordance with the terms of the signed contracts. The second thing is that the president's decree entrusts the government with the right to make exceptions for particular future contracts," the official said.

The Economic Development Ministry has received a relevant instruction from the government and intends to offer the government to exempt from the restrictions future contracts bearing large significance for the socioeconomic and trade situation in Russia.