ANKARA, October 9. /TASS/. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday he hopes Russia and Turkey will finally reach an agreement on a ten-percent gas price discount. He said negotiations on that matter have been resumed.
"The issue of the gas price depends on the bilateral trade relations. The issue of a gas discount was looked at in early 2015. Now, the talks have been resumed. I hope the sides will be able to reach an agreement," he told Turkey’s Hurriyet ahead of a meeting of the Russia-Turkey commission on trade and economic cooperation due to take place in Istanbul on October 10-12.
He reminded that Turkey’s Botas has refereed the issue of the gas price to an international court of arbitration which is to hold the first hearing in 2017. "It is not ruled out that Russia’s Gazprom Export and Turkey’s Botas may settle their disputes over the gas price before the case is considered at the court of arbitration," Novak said.
Gazprom Export, according to the minister, sells gas not only to Botas but also to a number of private local companies. "The issue of gas pricing is rather difficult, so the problem is to be tackled comprehensively," he added.