ANKARA, March 21 (Reuters) - Turkey has not banned the import of wheat and similar products from Russia, but imports may completely stop as Turkish companies do not prefer to import from the country, the economy minister said on Tuesday.

Turkish buyers have put purchases of Russian agricultural products - mainly wheat, maize and sunflower oil - on hold, despite denials from Ankara it has effectively banned imports from Moscow, trade and industry sources said on Monday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1GX1J7

Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci reiterated Ankara's denial, but said the annual $1.83 billion imports could fall to zero.

Last week, import licences issued by the Turkish government no longer included Russia in a list of accepted tax-free origins, the sources said, suggesting an import tariff of 130 percent could be applied to supplies from Russia.

(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by David Dolan) ((ece.toksabay@tr.com; +90 312 2927022; Reuters Messaging: ece.toksabay.reuters.com@reuters.net))