Turkey-Russia ends gas deal

Turkey decided to terminate its 25-year old deal with Moscow on natural gas supplies, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz was quoted by CNN-Turk as saying. The minister expressed hope that private companies would be allowed to tender for the gas. "Our cooperation with Russia, whether it be gas supplies via the Blue Stream or via other routes, will go ahead and grow stronger," Yildiz said. Turkey, Russia's second largest energy importer, said it would not renew the 1986 deal which expires on December if Russian gas giant Gazprom refuses to cut prices. Under the agreement, Russia is to supply about six million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey annually through Ukraine, Bulgaria and Rumania. Russia also supplies gas to Turkey directly via the Blue Stream pipeline on the Black Sea bed. In 2010, it supplied 18 billion cubic meters to Ankara, about 60% of Turkey's total domestic gas consumption.