Russian Minister of Energy does not rule out risks of Turkish Stream project postponement

MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Risks of postponing the deadline for the Turkish Stream gas pipeline construction appear if signing of the intergovernmental agreement under the project between Russia and Turkey is delayed, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday. "These terms were agreed between us," the minister said. If the document on the first line is not timely signed, "terms will be accordingly postponed," Novak said. Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller said in May construction of the first line of the gas pipeline is to be completed in December 2016. The Russian Energy Ministry has sent a draft intergovernmental agreement on the "Turkish stream" project to the Turkish side, a source in the Ministry told TASS earlier. According to the source, it is "an intergovernmental agreement on the project’s first line with a capacity of 15.75 bln cubic meters." Russian President Putin announced on December 1, 2014 the project to build the South Stream gas pipeline was closed due to the European Union’s unconstructive approach to cooperation in that sphere, including Bulgaria’s decision to stop the construction of the pipeline’s stretch on its territory. Instead, Russia will build a gas pipeline to Turkey where a gas hub on the border with Europe will be created, Putin said. The Turkish Stream will serve as an alternative to the South Stream gas pipeline project abandoned by Russia in December 2014. The larger part of the Turkish Stream pipeline will run across the Black Sea and coincide with the South Stream route approved earlier. The pipeline’s underwater section is 900 km long, land section - 180 km. The pipeline will have a capacity of 63 bln cubic meters, of which about 16 bln cubic meters will be given to Turkey. Read more