From October 7 this year, the Turkish authorities plan to increase the amount of fees for the passage of merchant ships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles by five times. This allows the country to increase its annual revenue from $40 million to $200 million, Sabah newspaper reported, citing sources at the Turkish Ministry of Transport on Monday, August 29.
It is indicated that the increase in fees, especially for the lighthouse, medical care, evacuation of merchant ships, is provided by the Montreux Convention of 1936, which mandates the navigation of the straits.
Sabah writes that by abolishing the old system of collecting fees, which was introduced in 1983, the “injustice” that Turkey has faced for 39 years will be removed. The newspaper recalls that the fees, even with the signing of the Montreux Convention, were determined in French francs, worth $0.80. Over time, due to inflation and the rise in the price of gold, the fees have almost been reduced to a minimum. In this regard, the cost of fees, estimated in francs, increased fivefold – up to $4, writes a Turkish newspaper.
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Based on materials from TASS