Turkey will be able not to pay for Russian gas until 2024

Turkey will be able to postpone payments for Russian gas until next year. This was reported by the Reuters agency with reference to its Turkish sources. The total amount of payments that the Russian Gazprom agreed to postpone is up to 4 billion dollars, while the payment of 600 million dollars has already been postponed to 2024.

At the beginning of May, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez announced the agreement with Gazprom, but he did not provide details.

Turkey is largely dependent on energy imports. Russia is its main supplier, Russia accounts for 39% of gas imports. After the start of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, energy prices in the world rose sharply. In addition, instability in the Turkish economy has increased due to reckless measures by which the Erdogan government has tried to strengthen the Turkish lira since 2019. At the end of 2021, inflation in the country exceeded 36%, in 2022 – 80%.

Presidential elections will be held in Turkey on Sunday, May 14. According to sociological polls, the current president, Recep Erdogan, may lose them. Its support has significantly decreased due to inflation and rising prices for products and goods that are essential.

• Turkey is one of the few countries in the world that did not join the sanctions against Russia because of Ukraine. At the same time, Ankara provides humanitarian and military aid to Kyiv and offers itself as a mediator for negotiations on the settlement of the conflict.