Russia will reduce the price of natural gas sales to Turkey, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
Speaking in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin announced that Russia will discount the price of natural gas by 6 percent to Turkey as of 1st of January, 2015.
Energy trade is among the most important components of Turkey-Russia relations. Turkey is demanding Russia to increase the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline capacity and to reduce the price for the cubic meter of the natural gas.
Turkey is likely to benefit from Western sanctions on Russia over its stance on Ukraine crisis, as it allowed the two countries to increase their trade ties.
Putin said that Russia will increase the capacity of Blue Stream Natural Gas Pipeline by 3 bcm.
“We will meet Turkey’s growing energy demand by building a new energy terminal and increasing the capacity of Blue Stream.” he said.
He added that Moscow will halt the construction of South Stream Natural Gas Pipeline project and will build a natural gas hub on Greece border of Turkey. On Monday, Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding to build the hub.
Putin said that the European Union prevented the realization of the South Stream Project. “That means Russian gas will reach other world markets in the form of liquefied natural gas. The EU will not benefit from Russian gas any more. That is their choice.” he said.
The Russian president also said that whoever needs Russian gas will buy it through Turkey. The discount on Russian gas to Turkey will increase as the cooperation between two countries develops further, he said.
Putin said that Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom is not just building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant Akkuyu, but also building the nuclear industry in Turkey.
Anadolu Agency