Reuters: Disputes delay Russia’s plan to establish gas hub in Turkey
As almost 11 months have passed since Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Ankara establish a natural gas trading center in Turkey, a notable news story was published in Reuters today.
In the news story titled “Disagreements are delaying plans for Russia’s gas trading center in Turkey,” it was stated that the implementation of the plan was delayed due to disagreements between Moscow and Ankara over who would manage the center.
The news reported that a source close to Gazprom also admitted that there was a disagreement over management issues, and it was claimed that Gazprom and the Turkish Energy Ministry did not officially respond to questions.
The news said that Russia plans to sell through Turkey to European countries, which have sharply reduced their purchases of Russian gas due to sanctions after the Ukraine war.
Currently, Russia supplies gas to Turkey via the Blue Stream and Turkish Stream gas pipelines in the Black Sea, and some gas from Turk Stream is exported to southern and eastern Europe, including Hungary, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Serbia. It was also exported to , it was also reported in the news.
It was also noted in the news that some Western capitals are concerned about Russia’s plan to establish a gas hub in Turkey.
In August, Gazprom supplied approximately 2.84 billion cubic meters of gas to the European Union via Ukraine and TurkStream; Of them, 1.54 billion cubic meters were shipped through Turkey and 1.3 billion cubic meters through Ukraine.
Putin said in July that the gas center was still on the agenda and that Russia wanted to establish an electronic platform for gas sales in Turkey.
CAME TO THE TABLE IN SOCHI
During his meeting with President Tayyip Erdoğan in Sochi on September 4, Putin announced that Gazprom had presented a roadmap for the center to the Turkish energy company BOTAŞ.
Putin said: “Gazprom presented the roadmap to BOTAŞ, next is the establishment of a joint working group. “We can say that we will also send natural gas to third countries.” His statements were considered a sign that the construction process of the gas center was accelerating.
Following his meeting with Putin, Erdoğan said of the structure of the possible gas hub: “With the natural gas hub to be established in Turkey, progress will be made both in energy transmission and pricing issues.” He used the following expressions.