Turkish logistics company Azure Group has set up a cold storage warehouse in Russia with an investment of TL 15 million ($3.22 million).

Azure Group, one of the most important brands of logistics in neighboring countries such as Iran, Syria, Iraq, has turned to the Russian market.

According to a statement released by the group, it will continue operations in order to become the most important assistant of the Turkish fruit and vegetable producers in Russia and Caucasian countries.

Having made an important investment for both the shipment and protection of many products, especially Turkish tomatoes, for which Russia recently granted a visa again, the group will be the biggest supporter of the producers.

The group, which established cold storage and customs warehouses in the north Caucasus' Abkhazia, aims to make a fundamental change in commercial relations between Turkey and Russia.

Azure Group Chairman Erkan Gül said the main purpose of this investment is to speed up the trade from Turkey to Russia, recalling that Russia does not buy many Turkish products. "Even if it does, they are subject to very high taxation, which causes our exports to fall. We aim to solve this export problem with our new investment," Gül added. Noting that Azure's investment will be made up of several phases, Erkan Gül said they built a plant for TL 15 million in the first stage. "In addition to this investment, we will create transit trade centers. Thus, the trade volume was targeted at $1 billion," he continued. "The project directly concerns the fresh vegetables and fruit producers. There will also be a logistics distribution area for textile products and construction materials."