The Russian Agriculture Ministry has proposed allowing Turkey to export up to 50,000 tons of tomatoes to Russia on an annual basis, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Wednesday.

"Importing does not include the tomato growing season in Russia. The proposal stipulates that tomato imports from Turkey are mentioned from the end of this year to the beginning of the next year," he said.

Dvorkovich told reporters at the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow that the Russian Agriculture Ministry had forwarded the proposal for tomato imports from Turkey to them in a statement. Earlier, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said in an interview with Russian state-run Rossiya 24 TV that the Russian market would be opened to Turkish tomatoes, but the volume of imports would be low.

From January to July, Turkey's tomato exports to Russia reached $198.3 million from last year's $159 million. Moreover, last year, exports of tomatoes, which are symbolic for Turkey, were 322,000 tons and reached 353,000 tons in the first seven months of this year.