Page 18 - TURKRptOct22

Many Russian men are fleeing Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine war mobilisation by escaping to Turkish destinations, particularly Istanbul.
Erdogan and Putin set a final agreement under which Turkey will pay 25% of its Russian gas bill in rubles. This does not make sense when it comes to Turkey’s balance of payments. Russians used to buy dollars to pay for their imports from Turkey or their vacations in Turkey. And, Turkey was paying dollars to Russia for gas imports. Now, Russians will pay in rubles and those rubles will be taken to pay the gas bill. However, the problem is that Turkey has a huge trade deficit with Russia and it can only earn the equivalent of a quarter of its gas bill from Russia. So, dollars or gold or some other hard currency is a must for the remaining three-quarters. As a result, even partly paralysing the US and its dollar does not seem possible in the slightest.
18 TURKEY Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com