Russia has once again increased the quota of tomatoes imported from Türkiye by 150,000 tons, media reports said Thursday.

Accordingly, the quota was hiked from 350,000 tons to 500,000 tons.

It was previously increased to 350,000 tons in April 2022.

Russia first imposed the quota in 2015 after Türkiye downed a Russian warplane that it said violated its airspace near the Syrian border.

Moscow lifted the import ban in November 2017 as tensions between the two countries eased, particularly after the launch of the TurkStream pipeline carrying Russian gas to Türkiye but set limits.

The country then increased the limits gradually from 50,000 tons in February 2020.

The Turkish business fraternity and officials have been calling for the complete removal of Russia’s quota on vegetable imports.

Last year, the volume of overall trade between Türkiye and Russia topped $62 billion.

Türkiye's total tomato exports, meanwhile, amounted to $326 million in the January-June period of this year.