Türkiye refutes allegations about postponement of gas hub talks with Russia

Türkiye and Russia continue to negotiate on the creation of a gas hub in the republic, proposed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic Alparslan Bayraktar said, Report informs referring to TASS.

“Since they offered us this gas trading platform, there’s been an earthquake and also elections. So, it’s been a bit of a pause period, but now we’re negotiating again. If we want to get more gas, if we want to attract more players into the game, then perhaps a new exchange could be more significant. We are not against creating an additional platform for gas trading. But if we now have a working gas trading platform, then we do not need to wait another year to start this trading operation,” the minister said at a briefing in Ankara.

On September 11, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that the gas hub project in Thrace remains a priority for Ankara. The Ministry of Energy and other interested departments have been ordered to continue work on this topic. Along with the hub, Ankara plans to create a commodity and raw materials exchange in Istanbul for trading energy resources, metals and minerals, where the market price will be formed.

In October 2022, Putin put forward the idea of ​​creating a hub on Turkish territory where the lost volume of transit through Nord Stream might be redirected. Turkish authorities say that in terms of infrastructure in the country, almost everything is ready for the implementation of the hub project, but it is necessary to amend the legislation. Speaking on September 4 in Sochi following negotiations with Erdogan, Putin said that Gazprom had handed over to the Turkish state-owned company Botas a draft roadmap for creating a gas hub in Thrace. He noted that the establishment of a joint working group is on the agenda.