Turkey has postponed the payment of a $600 million natural gas bill to Russia until 2024, marking the first such deferral under a deal announced last week. The move highlights the deepening ties between Ankara and Moscow, as Turkey heavily depends on energy imports, with Russia being its largest supplier
Turkey has postponed payment of a $600 million natural gas bill to Russia until 2024, marking the first such deferral under a deal announced last week that underscores the deepening ties between Ankara and Moscow, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The deal allows for up to $4 billion in Turkish energy payments to Russia to be postponed until next year, the sources added.
Turkey, which is set to hold elections on Sunday, heavily depends on energy imports, with Russia being its largest supplier. The postponement of gas payments is expected to ease some pressure on Turkey’s foreign reserves, which have been depleted by unorthodox economic policies intended to support the lira, as well as rising energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
One of the sources cited said that “officially a payment worth $600 million has been postponed to next year. The increase in energy prices had a huge impact on this.” The source also revealed that Turkey could defer further payments in the coming months depending on the course of energy prices.
Neither the Russian nor the Turkish energy ministries, nor their respective energy companies Gazprom and Botas, have commented on the issue so far. Last week, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez confirmed that Turkey and Moscow had reached a deal that allowed Ankara to postpone energy payments up to a certain amount but did not provide details.
Turkey’s energy import bill hit a record near $100 billion in 2022, and in the year to February, it imported 39% of its total 53.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas from Russia.
The deal underlines the growing ties between Russia and Turkey, with the closeness between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan enabling them to hold frequent talks on a range of issues, from energy to the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Ankara has sought to balance the conflict between Russia and Ukraine by opposing Western sanctions on Moscow while providing arms to Kyiv. Turkey has also helped broker a deal that allowed the resumption of Ukrainian grains.
The two countries have cooperated on other regional conflicts as well, mainly due to the rapport between their leaders, which has helped them reach solutions in Libya, Syria, and between Armenia and Azerbaijan, despite mostly backing opposing sides.
Recently, Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom built a $20 billion, 4,800 megawatt (MW) Akkuyu nuclear power plant. Erdogan has previously suggested further cooperation with Russia in the defense and energy sectors.
However, the growing relations have raised concerns in the West that Turkey is straying from its NATO ties. Ankara maintains that it remains true to NATO but needs to balance its relations.
Polls show that Turkey’s President Erdogan could lose the upcoming election largely due to a cost-of-living crisis and the sharp depreciation of the lira, largely brought on by his government’s program of slashing interest rates despite high inflation.
Source: Gerçek News
