Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev has told the local press he is in no rush to lift the import ban on a range of Turkish fruits and vegetables, but has highlighted better relations between the countries.

Russia put a ban on most Turkish produce imports at the start of 2016, in response to the downing of a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border late last year.

Ties between the two countries have been on the mend recently however after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the incident.

Erdogan's apology was earlier indicated by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a necessary condition for a lifting of trade bans, which have also hit Turkey's tourism sector.

"Regarding food we are not in a hurry to open our market. The reasons are clear as we first of all have to support our own producers," Tkachev told TASS.

His comments came after announcing measures to support Russian growers, particularly for promoting the proliferation of more greenhouses, vineyards and fruit orchards.

Tkachev's aim is to raise Russia's tomato and cucumber production to one million metric tons (MT) by 2020.

However, he mentioned high electricity costs could slow the development of energy-intensive greenhouses, prompting the establishment of a preferential energy price.

"Especially in the face of a possible strengthening of trade and economic relations with Turkey - and this is a major supplier of fruit and vegetables to world markets - such exemption would be of great help for domestic producers to increase their competitiveness," Tkachev said.

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