Murat Ongun: If we hadn't paid the debt of the previous IMM administration, BOTAŞ would have cut off Istanbul's gas

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s advisor Murat Ongun, in a statement made on X under the heading 'Little-known events,' stated that İGDAŞ currently has no debt to BOTAŞ, while explaining that Istanbul faced the threat of having its natural gas cut off due to the debt incurred during the AK Party era.

"PAID DURING THE EKREM İMAMOĞLU ERA"

Ongun's post is as follows: 

"Now I will tell you how the previous IMM administration dragged İGDAŞ into a debt trap and how we paid off these debts in 3 years after 2019.

Towards the end of 2018, the previous İGDAŞ management left a 1.7 billion lira debt to BOTAŞ, from which it purchased gas. That is, 283 million dollars at the exchange rate of that period.

The debt that was not paid in 2018 increased over time with interest. A 918 million lira interest burden was added to the principal, and the total debt rose to 2.6 billion lira.

The entire 2.6 billion lira debt was paid during the Ekrem İmamoğlu era, and within 2 years at that. Otherwise, BOTAŞ would have cut off the gas to Istanbul. İGDAŞ has had no debt to BOTAŞ since February 1, 2022.

It is not limited to this

This time, in January 2017, the previous IMM administration borrowed 1 billion lira from İGDAŞ. That is 207 million dollars according to the exchange rate of that period.

Before even paying off this debt, they took another 740 million lira from İGDAŞ. This time, according to the exchange rate of that period, it was 194 million dollars. Including interest, this debt had reached 2 billion lira by the time we took office. A significant portion of this debt was also paid during the Ekrem İmamoğlu era." 

LITTLE-KNOWN EVENTS

Now I will tell you how the previous IMM administration dragged İGDAŞ into a debt trap and how we paid off these debts in 3 years after 2019.

Towards the end of 2018, the previous İGDAŞ management left a 1.7 billion lira debt to BOTAŞ, from which it purchased gas. That is...

— Murat Ongun (@Mrt_Ongun) January 1, 2024

News Source: 12punto