“We have reached an agreement in principle with Russia,” said Taner Yildiz according to the website of the newspaper Hurriyet, stating that a new contract might be signed with Russia in order to buy gas at a “reasonable price ” with private sector participation.

These statements were made before the meeting with Vice President of the Russian energy giant Gazprom, Alexander Medvedev, which is scheduled for tonight.

Yildiz had said on Friday that Turkey was going to ask for a discount on the price of gas purchased from Russia.

He did not clarify, though, the range of this discount, since this could hamper talks with the representative of Gazprom.