ANKARA - Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler and Russian natural gas company Gazprom's Executive Board Chairman Alexey Miller decided at the end of their yesterday's meetings on natural gas prices and re-activation of Blue Stream to 'maintain talks' and the sides will assess information and documents that gave to each other.
During their tete-a-tete meeting yesterday which lasted nearly five hours, Guler and Miller could not reach an agreement while talks will continue for some time through mutual communication channels to determine scope and content of the next meeting.
Following yesterday's talks, Guler said as the ministry, they were in favor of compromise, but insistent on a formula for decrease in prices.
The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources stopper purchasing natural gas from Russia under the Blue Stream on March 12, 2003 and stated that it would continue until August 2003.
In its statement, the ministry said that the period since the start of the transfer of gas until the end of the first six-month period was the transition period and during this process, and the sides did not have responsibility for the transfer and purchase of the gas under the agreement between the two countries, and those factors constituted the cause of suspension of natural gas purchase under the Blue Stream.
While Russia claims that the six-month period in question had ended in June and the principle of 'take it or pay' had been valid since that time, Turkey announced that purchase of natural gas under the Blue Stream had started in February and the process had ended in July.
Speaking to reporters the day before, Guler said he hoped that an agreement would be reached by August.
As for the issues of disagreement, Turkey is in favor of decrease in prices and it wants Russia to implement offset rules of the natural gas agreement which was signed in 1984, in order to reduce foreign trade deficit that increased over to 2 billion U.S. dollars.
This agreement's rule about use of 70 percent of the cost of the natural gas for purchase of goods and services from Turkey has not been implemented since 1994 due to liberalization of exportation and importation and use of free foreign currencies in payments in Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia wants cash instead of goods and services from Turkey under the offset rules.
Besides, the amount of annual natural gas purchase from Russia which is currently 12-14 billion cubic meters through a pipeline via Bulgaria is expected to reach 30 billion cubic meters together with the Blue Stream in 2012. In this case, only natural gas purchase cost is estimated to be around 2.5 billion U.S. dollars even if there would not be increase in oil prices.
Meanwhile, exclusion of Turusgaz company which mediates purchase of natural gas, is one of the topics of the talks to reduce the price of Russian natural gas.
Turkey is envisaged to purchase annually 6 billion cubic meters natural gas with the pipeline via Bulgaria while under the agreement signed in 1998, Turkey is envisaged to purchase annually 8 billion cubic meters gas for 23 years through mediation of Turusgaz.
Under the Blue Stream project, Russian Gazexport company claims that the 'price calculation formula in the contract' was wrong and demands more money.
Following the talks in Ankara between June 26-27, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources said that it was impossible to meet Gazexport's demand regarding the price formula.
Consequently, Turkey defends that price of natural gas purchased from Russia is high and want decrease in prices and amount of natural gas.
(MS-AÖ) 11.07.2003