Daily Sabah: US expert: IMF to reward Greece if it withdraws from Turkish Stream

Thee political conflict between the U.S. and Russia is now forcing countries to choose sides on new energy projects. Gal Luft, a senior adviser to the United States Energy Security Council, said if Greece withdraws from the Turkish Stream project, which is planned to transfer Russian natural gas to Europe via the Turkish-Greek border, the U.S. will expect the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reward Greece.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Luft said the U.S. has not showed its influence on the IMF for Greece in terms of its own energy policies, and said in case Greece withdraws from the Turkish Stream Project, which will benefit Moscow, the U.S. will expect the IMF to reward Greece. The statement is meaningful, since Greece's new government has been in talks for four months on what reforms it should make to receive the final bailout installment of 7.2 billion euros from fellow eurozone states and the IMF. Athens needs the funds to be able to repay an IMF loan installment of more than 300 million euros that is due today. The installment is just one of four due to the IMF in June, all repayments of loans that are part of Greece's 240 billion euro bailout that began five years ago.

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