cooperation working group Wednesday when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan pays a working visit to Moscow. Accompanied by five Cabinet
members and a group of businessmen, the prime minister aims to boost
bilateral relations, especially in the economic field
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin will discuss ways to strengthen strategic and economic
ties during a two-day working visit later this week in Russia.
During their meeting, the two leaders plan to establish a high-level
strategic cooperation working group while energy will also be at the
top of the agenda, Russian diplomatic sources said.
“They are dominant actors and are strategic partners in the region.
Russia wants to export its energy through a more secure route while
Turkey is keen on strengthening its position as an energy corridor.
It’s a win-win situation,” a Turkish official requesting anonymity told
the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Monday.
The working group will be co-chaired at the prime ministerial
level while other ministers coordinate the meetings with the
participation of senior bureaucrats. “It is a clear sign that the
cooperation will go further as a result of mutual respect,” the same
official said.
Erdoğan will meet some 300 Turkish entrepreneurs at a dinner on
Tuesday night before holding talks with President Dimitry Medvedev and
Putin the following day.
Russia is a major market for Turkish exporters and contracting
groups but they such business has suffered due to the aftermath of the
Georgian War of 2008.
Turkey and Russia largely tackled problems in customs, food exports
and transportation in August 2009 when Putin made a surprise visit to
Ankara to request permission to conduct feasibility studies on the
South Stream gas pipeline projected to run under Turkish waters.
“We’re looking for a mechanism to prevent any more crises and put
the relations on a sound footing,” a separate Turkish official told the
Daily News on the condition of anonymity.
Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, will carry its crude
oil through a Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline currently being constructed from
the Black Sea to the Mediterranean port. Turkey is soon to announce two
tenders for nuclear power plants for which Russia’s Atomstroy is said
to be a potential bidder.
The officials are also expected to review the natural gas purchase
agreement that expires in 2011. Experts suggest it is time for Turkey
to ask for a price reduction while domestic consumption is less than
the total amount imported given that Iran and Azerbaijan can supply gas
at considerably cheaper prices.
State-run gas importer BOTAŞ has also been contracted to annually
pay Iran for a specified amount of gas regardless of whether or not the
gas is consumed. As a result of decreased domestic demand, Turkey will
pay approximately $1 billion for gas unused in 2009.
The Foreign Economic Relations Board, or DEİK's, Turkish-Russian
Business Council co-chairman, Cem Kozlu, said: “Trade between Russia
and Turkey had a narrower scope 15-20 years ago. Now, what is different
and good is having dynamic and multi-dimensional trade relations.”
Officials predict a $38 billion trade volume in 2010 that will reach
its target quicker than in 2008. Kozlu suggested there is a promising
potential waiting to be activated. “It is not just in the hands of
politicians or the CEOs of big firms to set trade volume targets,” he
said, adding that there is a chance for new opportunities with many
more actors in the picture.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız,
Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer
Çağlayan and Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker will also be among the
visiting delegation.