Türkiye wants big discount on Russian gas – Bloomberg

Ankara is seeking a price cut of over 25% for Russian natural gas, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing senior Turkish officials. The issue will reportedly be discussed on Friday during bilateral talks hosted by Türkiye.

According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Türkiye wants the discount to be applied to 2023 payments, and to some previous payments made this year retrospectively. Ankara will apparently seek deferrals for payments, preferably until 2024, if it fails to secure a reduction at the desired level.

Russia supplied nearly half of Türkiye’s total volume of imported gas last year, which reportedly amounts to 59 billion cubic meters. According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the nation’s total energy bill for 2022 could reach $100 billion, double last year’s amount.

Economic and energy ties between Russia and Türkiye have been growing lately as Moscow seeks new markets for its exports amid Western sanctions.

Erdogan earlier welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to create a natural gas distribution hub in Türkiye, which would allow Moscow to redirect transit away from the damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines to the Black Sea region.

The two countries are also working on the construction of a $20-billion nuclear power station on Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast, and Ankara has already applied to Russia’s state-run Rosatom to build a second reactor.

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