Ankara moves to payments in national currency for the purchase of gas from Russia
The new energy policy of Turkey requires all payments to be made in the national currency to the major trading partners in the energy sphere. Ankara is preparing to conduct payments in national currency for the purchase of gas from Russia, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Berat Albayrak said, Anadolu news agency reports.
“All relevant agencies are working in this direction," the Minister said and added that Ankara is working on transitioning to the Turkish lira in the procurement of Russian gas. Turkey is the largest consumer of energy in the region, he said.
It should be noted that Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority has decided that during the contracting process for natural gas distribution, payments will not be made in dollars, but in the local currency. The same decision was made by the Privatisation Administration of Turkey, declaring that from now on financial operations in the country will be carried out only in Turkish lira. The Istanbul Stock Exchange has also decided to transfer all cash to Turkish lira and to hold all funds in accounts in national currency starting on December 2nd.
Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on financial institutions and the public to transfer foreign currency savings to the national currency or to gold, to avoid external economic pressure on Turkey.