MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2022) Turkish Minister of Finance and Treasury Nureddin Nebati told the Financial Times that Ankara was expecting "good news" about a requested delay in some payments for Russian gas and the possibility of discounts on it.
Ankara is seeking a decrease in Russian gas prices, given high volumes of blue fuel it imports from the country, Nebati was cited as saying by the media outlet. According to the minister, Turkey has also asked Russian energy giant Gazprom to delay payments for gas.
A positive decision on both requests can reduce the pressure on the Turkish lira and therefore improve the image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the 2023 general elections in the country, Nebati told the newspaper.
Russia is the main supplier of gas to Turkey. Earlier in October, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Turkey had asked Russia to defer part of Ankara's payments for gas until 2024 so that it could mitigate the economic damage from higher energy prices. However, a source in Ankara told Sputnik that Turkey and Russia were negotiating not the postponement of payments for Russian gas, but its price, and there were no problems in this regard.
