The Turkish state-owned gas importer is seeking to delay some payments to Russia until 2024, sources told the outlet.
Turkish state-owned gas importer Boots is considering asking Russia’s Gazprom to grant a delay on some of Ankara’s natural gas payments due until 2024, Bloomberg reported Monday.
According to Bloomberg, Türkiye has not yet made a formal request to stop the payment, but talks have taken place between the officials. If granted, the deal would help ease pressure on the country’s economy amid a period of high global energy prices. Ankara has a trade deficit of more than $11 billion and has seen its national currency, the lira, depreciate, the report said.
A Turkish source quoted by Russia’s RIA Novosti said on Tuesday the discussion was about pricing rather than any proposed payment delay. The partial use of the ruble in trade changed the terms of the contracts and the parties are discussing how it could affect the price of the product, the source explained.
The two nations previously agreed to shift 25% of their natural gas trade to Russian rubles, away from the US dollar. Moscow has marked the main Western currency “toxic” because of the control Washington has over him and its willingness to use him for political influence.
Hungary, another major buyer of Russian energy, announced on Monday that it had reached a conditional agreement to postpone payments due for winter gas supplies.
“We agreed on a threshold value, and the part that exceeds this we do not have to pay now, but it will be deferred payment”, Development Minister Marton Nagy told Reuters.
The official said that the threshold was set below the current spot price of gasoline and that the agreement would last until March. He calculated that Hungary could defer up to 1 billion euros ($990 million) in payments.