OREANDA-NEWS   Turkey has partially switched to paying for Russian gas supplies in rubles, the Minister of Energy of the Republic Fatih Donmez said.

"As you know, an agreement has been reached, partial payment has already begun. We intend to intensify our work in this direction," the official said in an interview with TRT Haber TV channel.

According to him, Ankara and Moscow are conducting technical work related to trade in national currencies.
Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in September that Turkey would pay for 25 percent of gas supplies in rubles. And on October 12, speaking at the Russian Energy Week, Putin proposed redirecting transit from the "Northern Streams" to the Black Sea region and creating the largest gas hub in Turkey for supplies to Europe. Erdogan, for his part, said that he had instructed to start work on this idea quickly.

Later, the Minister of Treasury and Finance of Turkey, Noureddin Nebati, in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper, said that Ankara was asking Gazprom to make discounts on supplies, and was also seeking deferred payments.