Turkey looks for exit from Russian pipe

Against the background of a sharp increase in exports to Western Europe, Gazprom significantly reduces the supply of gas to its second largest consumer – Turkey. The price dispute with Turkish companies leads to the fact that the state-owned company Botas reduces the purchases, and private importers, to which Gazprom cuts the supplies, collect a consortium to start the purchase of LNG, which is falling in price, for the first time. This may allow them to be less dependent on Russian gas in summer. In the end, Gazprom can receive less $300-400 million in revenue - the losses will exceed the benefits of the price increase, sought by the company.

Since the beginning of the year, the deliveries of Russian gas through the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline to Turkey have fallen by 7.5% to 2.6 billion cubic meters - the lowest level in at least the past three years, Bulgartransgaz (operator of the Bulgarian section of the pipe) reports, and since February to March 19, the fall was even more significant - by 19%. According to the Kommersant, the volume of the gas supplies from Russia to Turkey via the second route – the Blue Stream gas pipeline through the Black Sea - also decreased as compared to last year. The drop takes place despite the low base in 2015 – then Gazprom limited the supply via the Ukrainian transit corridor in an attempt to prevent the reverse to the Ukraine. Now Gazprom reports the sharp increase in the export to Europe: by 37% in Italy, by 60% in Austria, by 66% in France and by nearly 250% - in the UK. But Turkey - the second largest consumer of the monopoly and the only steadily growing gas market in Europe – is out of this list.