Turkish Stream to be launched after 2017 – envoy
The launch of the Turkish Stream can be expected no earlier than 2017, according to the Turkish Ambassador to Russia. Gazprom previously estimated that gas supplies to Turkey via the pipeline would start in December 2016.
The binding agreement on the construction has not yet been signed
between Moscow and Ankara, and the pipeline is expected to run
only after 2017, ambassador Ümit Yardım said in an interview with Interfax.
“It would be incorrect to say that the pipeline will be launched
specifically 2016 or 2017,” the ambassador said, adding that
Turkey and Russia “have not yet reached the stage of the
project’s beginning.”
READ MORE: Gazprom, Ankara agree to start Turkish
Stream gas deliveries in Dec 2016
Yardım, however, added he believes that if the parties succeed in
implementing the project, “this would be a great victory for
both Turkey and Russia.” Moscow and Ankara continue
discussing the matter, he said.
Previously, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said that gas supplies to
Turkey via the Turkish Stream would begin in December 2016. The
agreement on placing the pipeline in commission and beginning of
gas supplies was reached at a meeting between Miller and the
Turkish Energy minister.
Turkish Stream has become an alternative to the South Stream project. In early December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of the South Stream because of the EU opposition, and said that Russia instead plans to build a gas pipeline via the Black Sea to Turkey.
