UPDATE: Russia to ratify the Turkish Stream accord with Turkey very soon

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GORKI, Moscow Region, Dec 6 (PRIME) -- Russia plans to ratify an agreement on construction of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline very soon, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in a news conference on Tuesday following his meeting with Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed into law a bill ratifying the deal, under which the pipeline will consist of two branches with a capacity of 15.750 billion cubic meters each. One of them is to supply gas to Turkey and the other to transit gas to the European countries through Turkey. The pipeline must be built by December 2019.

“I would like to inform the colleagues that ratification will happen very soon. The documents will be studied at a government meeting and we will do all the necessary ratification procedures after that,” he said.

Besides that, the two prime ministers discussed trade and investments between the two countries as well as cooperation in the energy, oil and gas, nuclear power, industrial, hi-tech, agriculture and tourism industries. The two countries have turned “the difficult page of bilateral relations” and will move forward, he said.

Russia plans to continue talks on prolongation of the Turkish Stream pipeline to the E.U., which will insure Europe against existing risks, he said.

“I am sure that such a decision will be favorable for Europe, will help it diversify the routes. But, at the same time, this is not a competition with any other pipelines from the point of view that everyone has its own place. The Turkish Stream itself should naturally enrich existing capabilities for supplies to the European market, but at the same time to insure European consumers from existing risks,” he said.

Alexei Miller, CEO of gas giant Gazprom, said that construction of the deep-sea part of the Turkish Stream pipeline is slated for in July–December 2017, and both threads of the pipeline will be launched in 2019.

Gazprom is also finishing a feasibility study for the entry points to extend the pipeline to the E.U. under the Poseidon agreement and to make a final decision in mid-December.

“Currently, the priority direction for gas delivery to Europe is the border between Turkey and Greece, and we will have to construct about 200 kilometers of gas transportation capacities through the Turkish territory. Gazprom has an agreement with Edison and DEPA on the Poseidon project, which is one of the options to extend gas exports through the Turkish Stream to the E.U. and end consumers there,” Miller said.

There are other options, but Poseidon is a priority, he added.

Yildirim said that Turkey plans to make all the decisions necessary for construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which is strategically important for the country, very soon.

Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov said separately that it is unlikely that Moscow will be able to lift its ban on imports of Turkish fruit and vegetables until the end of the year fully.

Medvedev also said that negotiations of presidents of the two countries Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are planned for January–June 2017.

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