Nataliya Yu. Ulchenko

The article examines the change in the nature of bilateral trade between the EU and Turkey during the period of its stay in the Customs Union of European states, that is, from 1996 to the present. In the early years, a sharp aggravation of the deficit nature of trade for Turkey was expected. It is not surprising that the imbalance has softened somewhat in the subsequent period due to Turkey's gradual adaptation to new conditions and the effective use of new import opportunities not only to saturate the consumer market, but also for technological renewal of production. What looks paradoxical in many ways is the bringing of bilateral trade in the last few years to a balanced state and even some surplus in favor of Turkey. The change in the nature of bilateral trade, apparently, was the result of long-term factors. Firstly, there has been an "ennobling" of Turkish exports, understood in this case as a certain increase in the level of its manufacturability, although while maintaining a low share of the actual high-tech goods. Mobility is also important not only for Turkish exporters, but also for Turkey's European partners, who are very willing to take into account the new opportunities of Turkish partners in their import strategy. Secondly, the expansion of the EU due to the entry of economically weaker new members, close to the level of development of Turkey or even lagging behind it, trade with which is mainly surplus for the Turkish side. At the same time, Turkey's trade with the EU-15 countries, as before, remains scarce.

Foreign direct investment has remained an important factor in the economic development of the Republic of Turkey for most of its history. This phenomenon has been evaluated in terms of the dynamics of FDI inflows, as well as their geographical and sectoral structure. In this article, we examine the relevance of foreign participation in the capital of the largest manufacturing companies in Turkey, which make up the list of the top 500 companies according to the Istanbul Chamber of Industry. We analyze both the scale of foreign investors’ presence in the capital of leading companies and their sectoral preferences, including from the perspective of the technological complexity of the most popular industries, as well as the main obstacles to expanding foreign presence in the most technologically advanced sectors.