The Energy Minister of Turkey, Alparslan Bayraktar, has publicly questioned the necessity of a new natural gas hub proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.
During a press conference on Thursday, Bayraktar stated that Turkey already has a well-functioning gas trading platform.
The idea of creating a gas hub in Turkey for supplies to other countries was first proposed by Putin during talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Kazakhstan in October last year.
Following this, Erdogan instructed his government to make immediate preparations for an international distribution center in Turkey.
This proposal immediately raised concerns within the EU, who are striving to reduce their reliance on Russian energy due to Putin’s actions in Ukraine.
In addition, there were worries in Washington that Turkey, as a NATO member, was getting closer to Moscow despite remaining neutral in the war and supplying weapons to Ukraine.
However, little progress has been made on this proposal in the months since it was first suggested.
Putin clarified that he was referring to establishing an electronic trading platform in Turkey, rather than physically storing gas.
Bayraktar has now cast doubts on the need for such an exchange.
He stated, “We already have a very well-functioning power exchange as well as a gas exchange.”
‘Kind of a Pause’
Bayraktar mentioned that discussions were put on hold due to a devastating earthquake in February and two rounds of presidential elections in May.
However, he assured that talks were ongoing.
Currently, Russia delivers gas to Turkey through two pipelines under the Black Sea.
Turkey then transports some of this gas to southeastern European countries like Hungary and Greece.
Turkey heavily relies on Russian imports due to its limited domestic energy sources.
Moscow is in the process of constructing a nuclear power plant on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, which could potentially reduce the country’s dependence on foreign gas imports.
Bayraktar mentioned that the main construction work on the first reactor of the Russian plant has been completed and everything is progressing well.
Turkey has also been discussing the construction of a second power plant in the Black Sea city of Sinop with Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear energy company.
However, Bayraktar emphasized that Turkey is open to offers from South Korean companies and those in China who are interested in building small modular reactors.
He said, “We are discussing [Sinop] with all the interested countries.”
