Turkey is ready to immediately take steps for Turkish Stream implementation - President Erdogan

ANKARA, August 8. /TASS/. Turkey is ready to promptly take required steps for implementation of the Turkish Stream pipeline project, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday in an interview with TASS First Deputy General Director Mikhail Gusman on the eve of his visit to Russia. "We are ready to promptly take steps towards implementation of this project [Turkish Stream - TASS], discuss it and make decision," Erdogan said. "No obstacles whatsoever exist to do so," he added. "Turkey purchases the greatest portion of gas from Russia," Erdogan said. "According to data as of the end of July 2016, natural gas imported from Russia totaled 12.5 bln cubic meters. This shows the importance of Turkey as an economic partner in this sphere," the President of Turkey said. The Turkish Stream pipeline was announced by the Russian authorities in December 2014 as a replacement for the South Stream pipeline. It was planned that the marine section of Turkish Stream would comprise four lines with the capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each. The pipeline is to run 660 km in the old South Stream corridor and 250 km in the new corridor in the direction of the European part of Turkey. Natural gas supplies through the first line of the pipeline are planned for meeting the demand of the growing Turkish market. On December 1, 2014, Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom and Turkish company Botas signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline with the capacity of 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea. In 2015, Novak said that at the first stage it was planned to lay two branches of the pipeline. Read more