Türkiye's energy ministry points to EU's failure to tackle energy crisis

The European Union is not coping with the energy crisis in Europe and is late in taking necessary decisions, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez stated on Habertürk television on September 19.

"Unfortunately, the European Union has not been able to handle this energy crisis well. They cannot get together and make a decision, they are late. We have taken a number of measures in both the electricity market and the natural gas market," he pointed out, Russia-based "Izvestiya" newspaper reports.

Donmez added that Turkish authorities continue to work on tariffs to relieve the burden on citizens with small and medium incomes.

"We are one of the countries least affected in this regard. Today, the price of one cubic meter of gas, taking into account everything in Ankara, is about 5.7 lira (18.74 roubles), while in Berlin, it is 43.3 lira (142.39 roubles), and in Amsterdam, it is 66.6 lira (218.98 roubles)," the head of the Ministry of Energy explained.

In addition, Donmez said that the agreement to pay for a quarter of the Russian gas supplied to Türkiye in roubles will come into force in the near future. It is known that after the agreement is signed, Türkiye will start paying 25 per cent of the natural gas purchased from Russia in roubles.

Earlier, on 9 September, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a discount on Russian gas. Erdogan also told reporters that Türkiye had no problems with Russian gas supplies because the country had not imposed sanctions against Moscow.

On August 11, Donmez said Türkiye refuses to join anti-Russian energy sanctions. According to him, Ankara purchased about 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year and expects a similar figure this year.