Why did Türkiye continue to raise Black Sea transit fees after a record increase eight months ago?

Türkiye raises fees to at least partially offset budget deficit.

Türkiye's budget deficit in March was 47.22 billion lira ($2.46 billion). (Source: Reuters)

On June 5, the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs under the Turkish Ministry of Transport announced that, starting from July 1, the country will increase the fee for passing through the Black Sea straits without calling at ports by 8.3%, from 4.08 USD to 4.42 USD per net ton of merchant ships.

The previous increase in the cost of passage took place on October 7, 2022, when the fee increased by a record fivefold (from 0.8 USD/ton since 1936 to 3.28 USD/ton). In 2023, the new fees are expected to allow Türkiye to earn about 900 million USD.

According to Article 24 of the Montreux Convention, the Turkish government is transferred all functions of regulating the passage of ships and they will notify all relevant embassies, as well as the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization, with a notice of the increase in fees.

Ankara is trying to raise fees to at least partially cover its budget deficit, said Amur Gadzhiev, a researcher on Turkey at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences .

The country's Finance Ministry said in April that the central government's budget deficit in March was 47.22 billion lira ($2.46 billion). The cumulative deficit in 2023 will increase to 250 billion lira, largely due to the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in February.

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