Turkey started paying for Russian gas in rubles
Russia and Turkey reached an agreement on trade in national currencies, including in the energy sector. Turkey already partially pays for Russian gas in rubles.
This was stated by the head of the Ministry of Energy of Turkey, Fatih Donmez, Censor.NET reports with reference to Liga.net.
According to him, technical work on trade in national currencies is currently underway.
"For 5-6 years, the parties expressed their intention to open the way for trade in national currencies. An agreement was reached, partial payment has already started. We will see this in the coming months. The fact that this is done using national currencies will also reduce the need of countries for other foreign currencies," Donmez noted.
He also stated that Turkey is recording an increase in requests from Southeast Europe for gas supplies.
"Turkey can continue to play an important role in the issue of gas supplies from neighboring states to Western markets. Turkey is ready to ensure the transportation of energy resources from the Caspian region, especially from Turkmenistan. We are also open to exporting Israeli gas, and in the long term from Iraq," he emphasized Donmez.
Discussions of a move to trade in national currencies between Russia and Turkey began after Russian banks came under Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russian banks, in particular Sberbank, have disconnected VTB from the SWIFT international bank transfer system.
