Ankara wants to create a financial center dedicated to investments in the sector, with Moscow’s help
TUPRAS (Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation) in Izmit, Kocaeli, Turkey. © Getty Images / Photosensia
Moscow and Ankara are working on several initiatives related to natural gas exports, and plan to continue to build relations in the energy sphere, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday.
During a press briefing following his return from talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Erdogan said the two countries were developing projects aimed at supplying Russian energy to global markets through Türkiye.
“In our talks with Putin, we discussed the energy sector from various perspectives. We will be implementing a number of projects to supply energy to Europe and world markets through our territory,” the Turkish president announced.
The main pillar is based on Moscow’s proposal to create a gas hub in Türkiye, which would help redirect gas transit from Russia’s two Nord Stream pipelines, which were heavily damaged by explosions last year, to the TurkStream pipeline. This would directly connect Russian natural gas supplies to the Turkish gas transportation network, and then on to southern Europe.
Erdogan noted that the gas hub would ensure the supply of Russian energy to the global market and help control gas pricing. For this purpose, Ankara is already establishing the necessary infrastructure and facilities, and now plans to create a financial center dedicated to natural gas exports.
“We have plans to create a hub for financing projects related to natural gas supplies, following the example of similar centers that exist in London and Hamburg… We plan to create such a center not only for natural gas, but also for [other types of] energy and the mining sector,” Erdogan stated, noting that he plans to discuss this initiative further with Russia.
Earlier, Putin specified that the establishment of a Türkiye-based gas hub would see the creation of an electronic trading platform. The Russian president noted that the hub could become a place for determining the final gas price for European consumers, which would help avoid unnecessary ‘politicization’ of energy supplies.
Within the framework of the planned gas hub, Türkiye will be able to export about 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, according to Erdogan. Ankara plans to start gas deliveries through the hub in 2024.
The Turkish leader believes that the hub will have a positive impact on global energy costs, help secure Türkiye’s domestic gas supply, and eventually turn the country into a new “global energy center.”
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