Russia, Turkey sign deal to build Turkish Stream pipeline

ISTANBUL, Oct 11 (PRIME) -- Russia and Turkey signed late Monday an intergovernmental agreement to build the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which implies construction of two branches.

The agreement was signed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Turkish counterpart Berat Albayrak, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after their talks in Istanbul.

Under the agreement, the pipeline should be built by December 2019.

Russian gas giant Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said earlier on Monday that the project implied construction of two lines with a capacity of 15.750 billion cubic meters each. One of them is to supply gas to Turkey’s internal market and the other to transit gas to European countries through Turkey.

In December 2014, Russia cancelled building the South Stream natural gas pipeline, which was supposed to carry Russian gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine, and decided to redirect all gas supplies to Turkey through the yet-to-be-built Turkish Stream pipeline. But the talks on the project stalled as relations between the two countries worsened.

In August 2016, Russian and Turkish officials said that they are interested in a restart of negotiations on the Turkish Stream.

Novak said the Russian company will own the maritime stretch of the pipeline’s both lines, while the Turkish company will own the land part of the first line, and a joint venture will own the inland part of the second branch.

Gazprom and Turkey’s Botas will define certain participants of the project. “Either themselves, or maybe some subsidiaries will be created,” Novak said.

Construction of the third and fourth lines of the pipeline was not discussed at the Russian–Turkish talks on Monday, Novak also said.

Erdogan said Russia and Turkey had agreed to speed up works to build the Turkish Stream pipeline and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

End