Gazprom raises cost estimate for TurkStream to $7 bln from $6 bln

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (PRIME) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom has raised the cost estimate for the TurkStream natural gas pipeline to U.S. $7 billion from $6 billion, Deputy CEO Andrei Kruglov said on Wednesday during the company’s investor day.

“We preliminary spoke that the cost of its construction may reach about $6 billion. Now, we estimate the cost somewhere about $7 billion,” he said.

“We also don’t rule out a possibility of raising project financing, but I would like to say that judging by the existing reality in which we work and live the TurkStream will be financed most likely from the budget of Gazprom initially, and later we may finance it through an issue of project bonds, like we did with the Nord Stream-1,” he said.

He also said that investments of the Gazprom group of companies would amount to $27 billion in 2018. The group’s investment program for 2017 stood at 1.644 trillion rubles, he added.

The TurkStream pipeline was designed to consist of two branches with a length of over 900 kilometers and a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each. One of them, to be finished in 2018, is to carry Russian gas to Turkey, while the other is to transit gas to the European countries through Turkey and is to be finished in 2019.

Previously, Gazprom said that it invested 92.8 billion rubles in the project in 2017, and planned to double the investment to 182.4 billion rubles in 2018.

(56.9533 rubles – U.S. $1)

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