Turkey gave Gazprom a year to think about prices

Turkish state-owned company Botas has extended two contracts with Gazprom for a year and in Ankara expects that such a short-term agreement will make the Russian company more pliable in the price of fuel.

"Botas has extended the contract with Gazprom for 21.75 billion cubic meters of gas from the Turkish Stream and "Blue Stream“ for another year. So there is no threat to Turkey in terms of supply security. I hope this gas will be purchased by Botas and delivered to Turkey. But as for the sphere of imports and efficiency, we need to come to a point where sellers will offer a more competitive price to the Turkish market," Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said, TASS reports.

According to him, private companies also buy gas in Russia.

"The terms of their contracts have not expired yet, the next ones expire around 2033. There are contracts valid until the 2040s. There are no legal obstacles for the private sector to conclude such contracts, but a competitive price is important," the minister said.

Obviously, Turkey is using a good moment for more active bidding on the price of gas.

On the one hand, Gazprom's share is about 40% in gas imports to Turkey. On the other hand, the country is increasing gas production at a large Black Sea field and plans to increase LNG purchases. In addition, the EU plans to completely abandon Russian gas and Turkey is now the second largest consumer of Russian gas after China, which makes Gazprom's position more vulnerable.