Putin offers Turkey a deal on EU gas supplies — RT Business News
Russian president suggests creating a major energy hub in the transcontinental country
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed building a major gas hub in Turkey to handle supplies previously routed through Nord Steam pipelines. The plan was presented 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 politicization of this issue, Putin said.
« As part 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 question – the question 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 political overtones ».
The proposal comes as Russia seeks to redirect supplies away from Nord Stream gas pipelines, damaged by last month’s explosions.
The president noted that Russia supplies gas to Turkey on a large scale, adding that Ankara has become the most reliable partner for the transit of Russian energy resources to Europe.
READ MORE:
‘The ball in the EU’s court’ on gas supply – Putin
Putin first suggested the creation of a gas hub in Turkey on Wednesday during his speech at the Russia Energy Week conference. He said Moscow could shift transit volumes lost due to damage to Nord Stream pipelines to the Black Sea region, by establishing a « gas hub » in Turkey for EU supplies.
He stressed that it was possible to repair the damaged pipelines but that Russia and the EU had to decide their fate.
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