Turkey Takes Russia to Arbitration over Gas Price Dispute

Turkey has taken Russia to international arbitration over a natural gas price dispute, Turkish Energy Minister Ali Riza Alaboyun has said.

"We have demanded a discount from Russia, and the arbitration court will rule on it," Turkey’s Anadolu Agency quoted Alaboyun as saying on Tuesday.

In February, Turkey obtained a 10.25% discount on the price of natural gas the country buys from Russian gas giant Gazprom but the two sides have never finalized the deal by signing off on it.

The dispute between Turkey and Russia was put before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

Alaboyun said Russia has ignored Turkey's calls for an additional discount since June, which was the reason why Turkey is seeking arbitration. The arbitration case relates to purchases of Russia natural gas made since December 29, 2014.

“We had agreed with Russia on the 10.25 percent discount and this has not been put in effect due to various excuses. We are confident that we will get this discount through arbitration,” a Turkish energy ministry official has said, according to Reuters.

Turkish energy officials have said that Russia has been adding demands regarding Turkish Stream, a Gazprom-backed project designed to bring Russian gas to Turkey and southern Europe, as a precondition for signing the gas price deal.

Moscow and Ankara halted talks on the South Stream in June because Turkey had no formal government. Gazprom has delayed the start of construction, saying it expected the deal to be signed once a new Turkish government is formed after November 1 elections.

"Filing an arbitration claim is one of the options under the contract terms. The possibility of an out-of-court settlement, as well as an arbitration decision still remains,” Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov has said, according to sputniknews.com.

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