Slovenia may participate in Turkish Stream when certainty on project will be reached - Prime Minister Medvedev

LJUBLJANA, July 27. / TASS / Slovenia may participate in the Turkish Stream when a level of certainty on project will be reached, said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, after the Russian-Slovenian talks. "We're not standing still. We believe that Slovenia, which has always taken a constructive position on this matter, may be involved in other projects, including the project on the Turkish stream, at a time when they reached the final agreement on its implementation" said Medvedev. He also expressed regret over the fact that the South Stream project had to be terminated. 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. Unlike the South Stream, which implied a large-scale infrastructure construction in Europe, the Turkish Stream project is limited to the construction of a pipeline under the Black Sea and a gas hub on the border between Turkey and Greece. The remaining part of infrastructure will have to be built by Gazprom’s European customers themselves. Earlier, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that the construction of the first stretch of the Turkish Stream would start in late June. The pipeline is scheduled to begin operation in December 2016, he said. The Turkish Stream will have an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters, of which 47 billion cubic meters will be delivered to a new gas hub on the Turkish-Greek border. Gazprom Russkaya Company will be in charge of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline construction. Read more