Türkiye has delayed the payment of a $600 million (TL 11,431 million) natural gas bill to Russia until 2024, a report suggested on Wednesday, which marks the first such postponement under an agreement announced last week.
Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said last week that Türkiye and Russia agreed on a deal allowing Ankara to defer energy payments up to a certain amount, but did not give details.
According to the agreement, up to $4 billion in energy payments to Russia may be postponed until next year, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two sources under condition of anonymity.
Türkiye depends heavily on energy imports, and Russia is its largest supplier. The latest agreement underlines the deepening relationship between Ankara and Moscow.
The gas payments deal relieves Türkiye's foreign reserves, which came under pressure due to rising energy prices worldwide after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
"Officially, a payment worth $600 million has been postponed to next year. The increase in energy prices had a huge impact on this," one of the sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The source said Türkiye could push back further such payments in the coming months depending on energy prices.
Türkiye's energy import bill hit nearly $100 billion last year. In the 12 months to February, the country imported 39% of its total 53.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from Russia.
The energy import costs that nearly doubled the average of recent years drove Türkiye's current account deficit last year. According to the central bank data, the shortfall rose to $48.75 billion in 2022 from $7.23 billion in 2021 and $31.89 billion in 2020.
Energy prices have since eased as markets have adjusted to the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine.
Türkiye aims to flip its chronic current account deficits to a surplus under its economic program that prioritizes investments and exports while keeping interest rates low.
Government data showed that the cost of energy imports began to decline as of January and was down 19% year-over-year in the first four months of 2023.
Meanwhile, Türkiye last month started pumping natural gas into the national grid from a vast reserve discovered in the Black Sea, which promises to curb the country's external dependence and cut consumer energy prices.
The reserve is estimated to hold 710 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, discovered gradually since August 2020. The initial phase will see a daily gas production of 10 million cubic meters (mcm).
Production will be lifted to 40 million cubic meters in the coming period after other wells go into operation.
