Turkey has all the necessary infrastructure to create an international gas hub on its territory, Turkish leader spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday.
"This is a very important proposal for Turkey. We have the infrastructure for this. Along with Russian gas, it is possible to supply gas to Europe via TANAP [Trans-Anatolian pipeline]. If the capacity of this pipeline is increased, it will be a very important [step] for Europe. It is also possible to supply gas from the Mediterranean Sea," Kalin said on the A-Haber TV channel.
Negotiations between Turkey and Russia on gas payments are ongoing; there are no problems, Kalin said. "Our company Botas is holding talks with the Russian side. Meetings continue, there are no problems in terms of payment and gas supplies," he said.
Last week at the "Russian Energy Week" forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin came up with the idea of creating the largest gas hub of Europe in Turkey to redirect the lost volume of transit through the Nord Stream. According to him, the matter concerns the possibility of building another gas pipeline system and creating a hub in Turkey to supply gas to third countries, especially to Europe, if they are interested in it.
The issue of creating a gas hub in Turkey was discussed at the October 13 talks in Astana between the Russian and Turkish presidents. According to Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan, the center is planned to be created as soon as possible and the most suitable place for it is the Thrace region in the European part of Turkey.
Putin on September 16, after a meeting with Erdogan on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, announced that an agreement had been reached on the Turkish side to pay for 25% of Russian gas supplies in rubles. A few days later Fatih Donmez, the minister of energy and natural resources of Turkey, said that the agreement on the payment of 25% of Russian gas in rubles would come into effect in the near future.
In early October Bloomberg Agency reported, citing unnamed sources, that Turkey has allegedly asked Russia to defer part of its payments for natural gas until 2024. However, this information has not been confirmed. Sources in Ankara then said that no such issue was on the agenda of the gas negotiations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
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Based on materials from TASS