According to Bloomberg’s claim, BOTAŞ reached a 1 billion euro loan agreement with Deutsche Bank for the purchase of LNG from the US manufacturers and European suppliers. The deal is expected to be signed in a few weeks.
It has been claimed that Turkey is about to reach an agreement on a 1 billion euro loan to be taken from Deutsche Bank to buy LNG (liquefied natural gas) from the US producers to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
According to the news in Bloomberg, the loan negotiations between BOTAŞ and Deutsche Bank have reached the final stage. It is stated that BOTAŞ will use the money to purchase LNG from US producers and European suppliers.
In the news, it was emphasized that the loan is the first loan to be used by BOTAŞ for LNG purchase and could pave the way for similar agreements. It was stated that in this way, BOTAŞ will diversify its range of natural gas suppliers, of which Iran and Russia have a large share.
The agreement between BOTAŞ and Deutsche Bank is expected to be signed within weeks.
In the news of Bloomberg, it was pointed out that the agreement came at a critical time for BOTAŞ, which was affected by the rising gas prices. BOTAŞ had the largest share in the Central Bank’s $18 billion foreign exchange sales in the last 5 months.
It has been reported that the loan, which is guaranteed by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, has a maturity of 5 years and can be doubled. According to the current LNG prices, 1 billion cubic meters can be purchased for 1 billion euros. Turkey’s natural gas use is around 61 billion cubic meters per year.
Although LNG is more costly than natural gas, after the war with Ukraine, many European countries turned to LNG purchases to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.
Turkey meets more than half of its natural gas needs from Russia.