Why did Türkiye continue to raise Black Sea tolls 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 from July 1, the country will increase the fee for passing through the straits in the Black Sea without calling at a port by 8.3%, from 4.08 USD to 4.42 USD per net tonnage of a merchant ship.

The previous increase in the cost of transit took place on October 7, 2022, when the fee increased by a record fivefold (from $0.80/ton since 1936 to $3.28/ton). The new fees are expected to allow Türkiye to earn around $900 million in 2023.

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 note 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 Türkiye at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The central government budget deficit in March was 47.22 billion lira ($2.46 billion), the country's finance ministry said in April, with the cumulative deficit rising to 250 billion lira in 2023, largely due to the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in February.

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