In December, contracts between „Gazprom“ and the Turkish company Botas for gas supplies, which provide half of the country's consumption, expire. At the same time, the United States is calling on Turkey to cut energy ties with Moscow, the Russian portal RBC reports, Focus reports.
A November 10 State Department press release, published after Secretary of State Marco Rubio's meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, states: „The United States has emphasized President Trump's call for all NATO allies to stop buying Russian energy carriers to help end the ongoing war in Ukraine.“
Turkey is the third largest buyer of Russia's second-largest buyer of Russian oil after China and India, importing about 300,000 barrels per day - roughly 10% of Russian oil exports from seaports. The country also buys about 22 billion cubic meters of gas from „Gazprom“ through the „Blumpotok“ and „Turkish Stream“ pipelines. After limiting supplies to European customers, Turkey became the second-largest foreign buyer of Russian gas after China, accounting for about 28% of „Gazprom“ exports to distant countries.
The current contracts between „Gazprom“ and Botas expire on December 31, and the two countries are in talks to extend them while maintaining current volumes, Bloomberg sources reported.
Following US sanctions against „Rosneft“ and „Lukoil“ Turkish oil refineries have begun to limit purchases of Russian oil. One of the largest plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), owned by Azerbaijan's SOCAR, plans to import supplies in December from Iraq, Kazakhstan and other non-Russian sources. At the same time, refiner Tupras has also reduced purchases of Russian raw materials.