Russia and Turkey agreed to partially pay for gas in rubles

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Turkey promised to partially pay for Russian gas in rubles, reports Interfax.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on this with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan during talks in Sochi.

Novak stressed that today Russia annually exports about 26 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey.

According to him, the heads of state also discussed the financial and banking block and reached a number of agreements in these areas.

The Deputy Prime Minister added that earlier Putin and Erdogan agreed to achieve a trade turnover of $100 billion a year. He noted that companies and citizens of both countries should be able to pay in national currencies during tourist trips and in the process of trade.

Negotiations between Putin and Erdogan

The meeting of the two leaders in the Sochi sanatorium “Rus” lasted more than four hours. At the talks, it was planned to touch upon the topics of cooperation, the effectiveness of the mechanism for exporting grain from Ukrainian ports, as well as the state of affairs in Syria and Ukraine.

The politicians discussed the key importance of trusting relations between Moscow and Ankara for achieving international stability. “On regional issues, the leaders emphasized the key importance of sincere, frank and trusting relations between Russia and Turkey in order to achieve regional and international stability,” the two leaders said in a statement following the talks.

Putin and Erdogan also confirmed the need to fully comply with all the conditions of the grain deal, including the lifting of sanctions on some food and agricultural exports from Russia.

The politicians also reaffirmed their will to further develop bilateral relations. “Despite the current regional and global challenges, the leaders reaffirmed their common will to further develop Russian-Turkish relations based on respect, recognition of mutual interests and in accordance with their international obligations,” the document says.

Gas for rubles

Putin announced his intention to convert payments for Russian gas supplies to European countries into rubles at the end of March. Later, the government published a scheme according to which payment would take place. According to it, buyers will open accounts in rubles and euros with Gazprombank, and the credit institution will independently purchase rubles on the domestic market from foreign currency payments for gas.

Subsequently, the authorities of some countries, as well as individual companies, refused to comply with these conditions, as a result of which Gazprom stopped deliveries to Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands.

In June, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Western companies that refused to pay under the new rules had already been cut off from Russian gas supplies.

Novak later said that most European buyers of Russian gas agreed to pay for deliveries in rubles.

Economist, deputy head of the National Energy Security Fund Aleksey Grivach said that some European countries deliberately refuse to pay for Russian gas supplies in rubles in order to aggravate the political situation.

According to him, the gas payment scheme has already shown its efficiency and effectiveness. He stressed that the majority of consumers of Russian gas have switched to it and do not experience any problems with paying for and receiving fuel.