According to the Turkish president, the agreement is beneficial for both countries. Russia has been trying for some time to get money for fossil fuels in rubles. The country cannot do much with payments in dollars because it cannot exchange that currency due to the sanctions that Western countries imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
For Turkey, partial repayment has the advantage of reducing the need to draw on its dollar reserves. These reserves have already dwindled as Turkey has spent billions of dollars to prop up its lira. It fell as a result of Turkey’s very high inflation and the decline in confidence in the Turkish economy against the dollar.
Turkey goes to MIR
In addition to payments in rubles, Turkey will also adopt the alternative Russian payment system Mir. Russia is trying to promote this because it is cut off from the international payment system SWIFT. Five Turkish banks will integrate the MIR system. This would make it easier for Russian tourists to pay for things in Turkey. In the first half of this year, more tourists came to Turkey from Germany alone than from Russia.
