Turkey’s Erdogan Adds Energy Bill Discount to Pre-Vote Handouts

Beril Akman and Patrick Sykes
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised discounted natural gas bills for households for a year in his latest financial giveaway ahead of elections in less than a month.

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“We are providing free natural gas used in households’ kitchens and hot water for a year,” Erdogan on Thursday said in a ceremony in Turkey’s northern province of Zonguldak that marked the formal start of gas production at the Black Sea Sakarya field.

The amount that will be free is 25 cubic meters per month for each household, the president said, meaning that many citizens will still have to pay natural gas bills, but there’ll be a small discount.

Local gas will reach households next month, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez had said.

Easing energy bills could help boost the president’s popularity ahead of the May 14 vote, at which Erdogan faces a united opposition pressing him on the dire situation of the economy.

It’s the latest appeal to voters’ wallets following other initiatives including a minimum wage hike, subsidized loans and early retirement for millions of people.

Turkey is almost entirely reliant on foreign energy suppliers and officials have pitched the development of local resources as a partial remedy to its exposure to import prices. Russia’s war on Ukraine caused a global spike in energy prices, denting Turkey’s current account balance and causing inflation to accelerate to the highest levels under Erdogan’s two decades in power.

The Sakarya gas field is the biggest in the Black Sea, with 710 billion cubic meters of recoverable reserves, according to state production company Turkish Petroleum AO. When production peaks around 2027, it will supply the equivalent of around a quarter of the country’s current gas needs.

Turkey Gas Field Launch Sets Up Pre-Election Energy Giveaway (1)

Turkish Petroleum also hopes to export some of that volume to Europe in future, though it’s said it will prioritize the domestic market if needed.

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