🤦♂️ Türkiye will acquire 70 BILLION cubic meters of #NaturalGas-equivalent #LNG from 🇬🇷🇨🇾 GREEK CYPRUS-registered #Mercuria over the next 20 years!
Even though the company is managed from #Geneva, Switzerland, it is legally incorporated in, subject to the laws of, and pays taxes in #CYPRUS; a country that has always been hostile to Türkiye and happens to have recently bought Israeli #BarakMX missiles that pose a massive threat to Turkish military & civilian aviation in the East Mediterranean.
Let's do some simple math. Based on the current LNG Spot Price of $11.40/MMBtu, the LNG alone is worth around $28.5 BILLION; not including the highly significant cost of shipping and regassification. Assuming a conservative 2% profit margin (common for LNG traders like Mercuria), their net taxable income on this one deal will be AT LEAST $570 million. Given Cyprus' 12.5% corporate income tax, it means Ankara is basically putting a MINIMUM of $71.25 million into the pockets of the Greek Cypriot government.
Considering Israel's prior sales to Slovakia, Azerbaijan and Morocco, each battery of the #BarakMX costs $70–100 million, depending on quantity and configuration.
How about that!? Congratulations, Ankara! We've potentially paid for the missiles Greek Cyprus will use to shoot down Turkish aircraft!
Look, we understand and support wanting to diversify Türkiye's energy suppliers, but now with so many other choices around the world and Türkiye itself producing, perhaps we didn't have to go as diverse as the enemy.