The real name of the problem: not a ban, a reluctance
Almost everything written on this subject falls into one of two extremes — «you cannot send money to Russia» or «there is no problem at all». Both are wrong.
The legal position. Turkey is not a party to the sanctions against Russia. Importing wood and veneer is permitted under Turkish law, and there is no special restriction on GTİP (Turkish customs tariff code) 4408.90.
The banking position. Turkish banks have to protect their correspondent relationships with US banks. The secondary-sanctions regime that came into force in December 2023 allows foreign financial institutions to be targeted over transactions connected with the Russian military-industrial complex. The result: a bank assesses risk transaction by transaction rather than customer by customer, and when in any doubt it prefers to refuse.
The practical conclusion. The payment channel is a clause of the contract no less important than the price, and one of the first three questions to ask when choosing a supplier.
Three channels, three risk profiles
| Channel | Time | Typical cost | When it works | Where the risk sits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct SWIFT | 7–15 days | High minimum fee (of the order of 300 EUR) | If your bank’s foreign trade desk has agreed in advance | Getting stuck at the correspondent bank; the money can sit in transit for weeks |
| Payment agent | 10 minutes – 3 working days | A percentage of the amount | The most widely used route | The intermediary itself; with a weak document chain the payment is hard to prove |
| Letter of credit | — | — | Practically never | No confirming bank is available for a Russian beneficiary |
When you pay: the 6% line item
Just as important as the channel is the moment the payment is made.
KKDF, the Resource Utilisation Support Fund, is levied at 6% of the transferred amount on imports made on deferred payment terms. Cash against documents, a deferred letter of credit and payment against acceptance are all forms of deferral. If the payment clears before the customs declaration is registered, KKDF does not arise.
| A 100,000 USD lot | Deferred | Prepaid |
|---|---|---|
| Value of goods | 100,000 USD | 100,000 USD |
| KKDF at 6% | 6,000 USD | 0 USD |
| KDV (Turkish VAT) at 20%, allowing for the difference in base | higher | lower |
So prepayment is not a discount squeezed out of a supplier — it is a direct saving on payments to the state, and in absolute terms it is usually larger than the per-cubic-metre discount people spend the negotiation arguing over. The full calculation is on the customs page.
The bank’s compliance pack: assemble it in advance
Most refusals are caused by missing documents rather than by politics. The bank will ask for the following — have the whole set ready before the transaction starts.
| Document | Why the bank wants it |
|---|---|
| Signed sale contract | Shows the commercial purpose of the transaction |
| Proforma invoice | Amount, currency, delivery terms |
| The tariff code stated (4408.90) | Shows the goods are not dual-use |
| Certificate of origin | General form of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry |
| Seller’s registration documents | Beneficiary identity and sanctions-list screening |
| End-use statement | Explains that the goods are an industrial input |
Payment structure: how to split the risk
Prepayment zeroes out KKDF, but it puts the whole risk on the buyer. The structure usually used on a first transaction is a split payment.
- Contract signature — a 20–30% advance to plan production and loading.
- Loading — loading photographs, the weighing note and the moisture measurement record are sent.
- Balance against the bill of lading — the remainder once the bill of lading and shipping documents are presented.
For KKDF purposes this counts as prepayment, because the payment is completed before the declaration is registered, yet the risk is spread across stages. In the contract, write out one by one which document each stage is tied to.
What to do on the first transfer
- Talk to your bank’s foreign trade desk beforehand. Show them the draft contract and the tariff code, and ask for written confirmation.
- Start small. Make the first transfer the advance instalment rather than the full amount — it is the cheapest way to confirm the channel works.
- Keep a fallback channel ready. Channels closing is routine; do not tie your shipping schedule to a single route.
- Fix the exchange rate. The currency, the rate and the rate date all have to be stated clearly in the contract.
- Keep the document chain. The payment order, proforma, contract and bill of lading belong in one file — on the next transaction the bank will ask for the same pack again.
What we do on our side
We confirm the payment channel separately for every transaction and say plainly, before the contract, which route is working at that moment. Saying a channel is closed is better than hiding it and letting the shipment slip: a buyer who finds out about a payment problem on the first delivery does not make a second one.
The full list of questions worth putting to a supplier is on the supplier selection page.