Putin offers to create a major gas hub in Türkiye for EU supplies
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) meets Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Astana, Kazakhstan on October 13, 2022. © TUR Presidency/Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed building a major gas hub in Türkiye to handle supplies previously directed through the Nord Steam pipelines. The plan was put forward during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Kazakhstan on Thursday.
The hub could also become a platform for determining gas prices, avoiding the politicization of this issue, Putin said.
“In the course of the work of this hub, which we could create together, of course, it would also be a platform not only for supplies, but also for determining the price, because this is a very important issue – the issue of pricing,” Putin told Erdogan.
He called the current cost of gas “sky-high,” adding that “we could easily regulate [them] at a normal market level, without any political overtones”.
The proposal comes as Russia looks to redirect supplies away from the Nord Stream gas pipelines, damaged in explosions last month.
The president noted that Russia supplies gas to Türkiye at full scale, adding that Ankara has become the most reliable partner for the transit of Russian energy resources to Europe.
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‘Ball in EU’s court’ on gas supplies – Putin
Putin first suggested the creation of a gas hub in Türkiye on Wednesday during his address at the Russia Energy Week conference. He said that Moscow could move the transit volumes lost through the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines to the Black Sea region, by establishing a ‘gas hub’ in Türkiye for EU supplies.
He pointed out it was possible to repair the damaged pipelines but that Russia and the EU should decide their fate.
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