Russia to start ratifying agreement on Turkish Stream in near future - PM Medvedev

GORKI, December 6. /TASS/. Russia will start to ratify the agreement on the Turkish Stream in the near future, the Russia Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday after talks with his Turkish counterpart. According to Medvedev ratification of the agreement in Turkey "gives confidence that this project will be implemented." "In the near future we have to move on to ratification procedures in Russia," he said. On December 2, the parliament of Turkey has passed a bill on ratifying an intergovernmental agreement with Russia on constructing the Turkish Stream gas pipeline. A total of 210 lawmakers out of 223 were in favor of the ratification during the vote, which was held last night. On November 29, the parliament’s foreign relations commission also endorsed the bill. The Russian authorities announced the Turkish Stream in December 2014 to replace the South Stream gas pipeline project. It was planned that the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline would comprise four stretches with a capacity of 15.75 bln cubic meters each. However, the negotiations on the project were subsequently suspended, including due to the crisis in bilateral relations. After talks held between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg in August 2016, a decision was made to resume works under the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, set up a working group and prepare a roadmap. The Turkish Stream project envisages the construction of a gas pipeline across the Black Sea to the European part of Turkey and farther to the border with Greece. The pipeline’s offshore section is expected to equal about 910 km and its overland segment on the Turkish territory 180 km. The project is estimated at 11.4 bln euro. Gas deliveries via the first stretch of the gas pipeline are designed wholly to meet the requirements of the growing Turkish market. Read more