Russia Prepared To Reduce Sanctions Against Turkey To Complete World Cup Projects
The Kremlin is ready to reduce sanctions against Turkish construction companies in order to complete construction projects for the World Cup Championship that is to be held in the Russian Federation in 2018. The reduction of sanctions can affect about 30 Turkish construction companies. According to Kommersant, the total cost of these works is estimated at 60 billion rubles (approximately $784 million).
Moreover, developers can be allowed to stay in Russia under the condition that they will create joint ventures with Russian partners, where the Russians would control a 75% share of each joint venture.
In late November last year the Russian government imposed sanctions against Turkey that included a ban on importing Turkish products and the restriction against recruiting Turkish citizens to work in the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the sanctions and they took effect on the 1st of January 2016.
The ban affected several Turkish companies operating in Russia. The crisis in relations between Russia and Turkey started after the incident with Russian a Su-24 frontline bomber that was shot down by a Turkish F-16 fighter on the 24th of November over the Syrian-Turkish border. The pilot of the Russian plane and a marine who took part in rescue operations were killed as a result of the incident.