Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 12
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey in 2023 alone will be able to get rid of dependence on Russian gas by 30 percent, the head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji Kenan Yavuz said, the Turkish Haberturk newspaper reported Dec.12.
Yavuz said that there is no reason to panic over the fact that Russia will cut off gas supplies to Turkey.
"Russia needs gas markets as much as Turkey needs to purchase gas," said Yavuz.
In accordance with two contracts signed with Turkey, Russia is committed to annually supply gas to the country amounting to 20 billion cubic meters.
The first contract to supply Turkey with 16 billion cubic meters of Russian gas was signed in 1997, and it expires in late 2025.
The second contract, for the supply of four billion cubic meters of gas, was signed in 1998 and expires in 2021.
In 2014, Turkey was the second largest importer of Russian gas after Germany - Ankara purchased 27.3 billion cubic meters of gas from Gazprom.
Turkey is also importing 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Azerbaijan on the basis of a 'take or pay' contract. Turkey also buys gas from Iran. Ankara also has agreements with Algeria and Nigeria for the supply of 4.4 billion cubic meters and 1.2 billion cubic meters of liquefied gas per year, respectively.
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