Erdogan welcomes Putin’s idea to make Turkey a gas hub

Bloomberg

Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Vladimir Putin’s proposal to turn Turkey into a regional hub for natural gas, potentially positioning the country as a key route for Russian flows to Europe.
The Turkish president met Putin in Kazakhstan on Thursday and they agreed to establish an international gas hub, most likely in the Thrace region bordering Greece and Bulgaria, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
“We have a national distribution center but this will be an international one,” Erdogan was quoted on Friday as saying. “Our energy ministry and the Russian side will work jointly. There is no such thing as waiting here.”
Earlier this week, Putin said Russia was considering building more subsea gas pipelines to Turkey to redirect the idled flows on the Nord Stream link to Europe that runs under the Baltic Sea. The Black Sea links to Turkey could become Russia’s main gas-export route for Europe, according to Putin.

Turkey Mediates
France has downplayed the idea, saying there’s no point in building infrastructure allowing Europe to import more Russian gas, AFP reported.
Russia has severely reduced gas exports to Europe this year in retaliation against sanctions related to its invasion on Ukraine. That’s plunged the continent into an energy and cost-of-living crisis.
Turkey has positioned itself as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. It has maintained amicable ties with Moscow and refrained from following the US and Europe by imposing sanctions.
Erdogan has turned to Putin to help alleviate economic pressures. Turkey’s inflation rate has risen above 80% and it’s current-account deficit has soared. The cost of energy imports is set to exceed $50 billion this year.
Erdogan is seeking gas discounts from Russia and the ability to pay for energy in liras, several Turkish officials have told Bloomberg.
Turkey has asked Russian-owned Gazprom for a three-year deferral on gas payments covering 25% of purchases, which it earlier agreed to settle in rubles, a source familiar with situation on the Russian side said. Russia, in return, is seeking to get state guarantees from Turkey covering the difference as well as interest payments equal to the Russian key rate, the person said. Gazprom didn’t immediately comment.