Turkey to Russia: Think twice before you halt gas
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In response to a question regarding the Ukrainian crisis and its possible effects on Turkey's natural gas imports from Russia, Mr. Yildiz stated that Turkey will not be negatively affected by the current conflict over Ukraine.
"It is said that the IMF will provide loans to Ukraine to cover its debts to Russia stemming from natural gas imports. Moreover, European Union countries stand behind Ukraine and support it financially. That is why we do not expect any disruption in natural gas transfers from Russia," said Mr. Yildiz and added that in the event Russia imposes natural gas sanctions on Ukraine, "Turkey will view it as sanctions being imposed against Turkey."
"We believe that deep-scaled interstate relations between Turkey and Russia will prevent such a mistake. Russia would not want to be devoid of the revenue it gets from Turkey provided by natural gas exports, which totals about $11 billion (TL 22.9 billion) annually, and Turkey does not want to be faced with a cut in its natural gas supply," said Mr. Yildiz. ■