Turkey starts partially paying for Russian gas in rubles
Erdogan and Putin at the SCO summit, September 2022 (Photo:Sputnik/Alexander Demyanchuk/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
Turkey has begun to partially pay for Russian gas in rubles, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Nov. 8, according to Reuters.
The two countries agreed on this in September of this year.
According to the Turkish official, the share of payments in local currency in energy trade with Russia will increase in the coming months.
The Russian Federation is increasingly asking buyers of its oil and gas to pay in rubles to support the Russian currency, Reuters said. Most of the international energy deals are done in US dollars or euros.
Turkey is also trying to boost trade by using the lira, which has suffered from the Turkish government’s unorthodox monetary policy.
Turkey and the Russian Federation agreed on the start of ruble payments for the supply of natural gas in September this year.
Turkish officials asked Russia to delay payments for gas until 2024, according to Bloomberg’s report from Oct. 3. This happened after Turkey’s state-owned energy importer Botas struck a deal with the Russian side that allows it to pay 25% of its obligations in rubles instead of dollars.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that in November of this year, Turkey will complete the construction of a pipeline to connect to the Black Sea gas system.
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