Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez met with Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. Following the cooperation agreement signed yesterday with Bulgaria in the field of natural gas, Minister Dönmez held talks in Skopje.
Minister Dönmez and the accompanying delegation met with Bekteshi, Minister of Economy of North Macedonia, at the Prime Ministry building. Turkey's Ambassador to Skopje Hasan Mehmet Eightkök accompanied Dönmez in his meeting.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Dönmez pointed to the historical and cultural ties between North Macedonia and Turkey.
Reminding that there are Turkish cognates in North Macedonia and people of North Macedonian origin in Turkey, Dönmez said, “They are actually our greatest resources to develop relations between the two countries in the most natural way.” said.
Reminding that they celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between North Macedonia and Turkey, Dönmez said:
“We increase (relationships) to an extremely level point by adding on it every year. In these meetings, we once again expressed that we are ready to support the increasing energy demand for the development and development of North Macedonia, both through our Turkish entrepreneurs and our public institutions. I would like to express once again that we are ready to meet both the demand for natural gas and the demand for electricity when appropriate conditions arise.”
Noting that an important agreement was signed in Bulgaria yesterday, Dönmez said, “Now, the natural gas infrastructure in Turkey becomes available to the countries in the region as well. North Macedonia also supplied a significant portion of natural gas through Bulgaria. The more resource inputs can be provided, the more favorable results will be obtained for consumers in an environment of competition. In this process, we are ready to contribute to the goals of North Macedonia on this path.” used the phrases.
Noting that Turkish entrepreneurs in North Macedonia undertake important tasks and make a significant contribution to them, Dönmez thanked Turkish entrepreneurs for completing the projects they started on time.
Stating that they will sign a memorandum of understanding with North Macedonia in a short time, Dönmez said that they will organize an International Gas Summit in February, and that they invited North Macedonian Economy Minister Bekteshi.
“Turkey's century will also be the century of energy”
Dönmez said, "Turkey's century will also be the century of energy."
“Unfortunately, Turkey has been dependent on foreign energy for energy until today. This is not something we want. We have to reduce it. In this respect, we need to research and find local and edible resources to the maximum extent and put them at the disposal of our citizens and people. In this context, we have intensified our efforts to research our hydrocarbon resources in recent years. Thankfully, we have made an important discovery in the Black Sea. Our goal this year, in the 100th anniversary of our Republic, is to bring that gas to our people. Likewise, we have serious projects in the field of renewable energy, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydraulics, we have big projects. They too will come to life one by one.”
Emphasizing that energy supply security is indispensable for them and the importance of resource diversity for this, Dönmez said, “We had to strengthen our infrastructure. We have almost completed the deficiencies related to the infrastructure to a large extent. Our warehouse capacity has increased. In two years, we will increase our capacity in Salt Lake from 1,2 billion cubic meters to 5,4 billion cubic meters.” said.
Pointing out that Turkey is acting not only to meet its own needs but also to meet the needs of the countries in the region with these infrastructure investments it has made in energy, Dönmez used the following expressions:
“The goal of becoming a trade center actually came from here. We are negotiating with both supplier-producer countries. We are also negotiating with consumer countries. There are extremely positive, positive approaches from both sides. Turkey is the country that consumes the most energy in Southeast Europe. The variety of resources is also quite large. We asked why one of these and similar trade centers that have been operating in Western Europe for years should not be in Turkey, in Southeastern Europe. Because this geography is actually closer to the sources. This is an opportunity, this is an advantage. We see this will in neighboring countries as well. We can easily operate this market, this distribution center together.”
Dönmez added that in this context, Bekteshi, Minister of Economy of North Macedonia, stated that they would also support this project and that they would get results as soon as possible.
“As North Macedonia, we have expressed our interest in participating in every initiative that Turkey will make”
Bekteshi also noted that with this visit, excellent cooperation with Turkey was seen once again concretely, and said that when the energy crisis started, the first place they applied in Turkey was the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.
Expressing that they want to attract as many Turkish investors as possible to North Macedonia during the meeting, Bekteshi said, “We expressed our views on renewable energy sources and increasing production from them, especially considering the issue we are currently facing. At the same time, as North Macedonia, we have expressed our interest in participating in every initiative that Turkey will make. This could also be common regional markets that Turkey will run through other mechanisms.” he said.
Informing that they will sign a memorandum of understanding with Turkey, Bekteshi stated that the working groups are at the stage of finalizing the draft and that they aim to sign it in the meeting they will hold in Istanbul.
Bekteshi thanked brother country Turkey on behalf of himself and his government for the support they provided to North Macedonia in various areas of life, including the economy, and for the cooperation between the two countries and said, “President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and Mr. Dönmez have always shown interest. I believe that we will overcome this crisis together and that we will open new perspectives for the development of our country's economy and for the development of Turkey by investing in our companies in the future.” used the phrases.
Be the first to comment