Turkish minister says his country will not join energy sanctions against Russia

Turkey has a valid gas contract with Russia, the country cannot join the sanctions in the energy sector, said the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the country, Fatih Donmez.

⠀

Donmez specified that in addition to this, the country also has agreements on energy supplies with Iran and Azerbaijan. Gas consumption, according to his estimates, is planned to be maintained at the level of 59-60 billion cubic meters per year.

⠀
In addition, Ankara would like to receive payment from the Russian side for gas transit in its own currency, lira, Donmez added. Also, the parties are now discussing the specific details of the plan to pay for part of the fuel supplies in rubles.

⠀
The agreements between the presidents of the two countries regarding the partial payment for Russian gas in rubles were revealed on August 6 by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. He stressed that today Russia annually exports about 26 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey. Russian gas supplies to the European Union last year exceeded a total of 150 billion cubic meters, but in 2022 Moscow began to reduce export volumes.