Turkey begins paying in rubles for some Russian gas purchases

According to Reuters, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Tuesday that Turkey has started paying in Russian rubles for some of its natural gas purchases from Russiam.

In an interview with the TRT news channel of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, Donmez said the share of payments in local currency for energy imports from Russia would increase in the coming months.

Russia, hit by Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, is increasingly asking energy-buying countries to pay in rubles to help boost the value of its currency. Most international energy deals are made in dollars or euros.

Turkey is also trying to boost its trade using the lira, which has depreciated due to unconventional monetary policies.

Ankara and Moscow agreed to start paying in rubles for natural gas supplies in September.

Donmez said that Ankara will draw up a road map by the end of this year and may hold a conference for suppliers and buyers, in response to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to establish a natural gas center in Turkey.

“We can organize a world gas conference, perhaps in January or February, to bring gas exporting countries together with importing countries to get their views, and we will move forward accordingly,” Donmez added.

Last month, Putin suggested Turkey be a gas supply hub as an alternative route after explosions destroyed Nord Stream pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he approved the idea.

The European Union, which relied on Russia for about 40 percent of its gas needs, is seeking to wean itself off Russian energy in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February.