Serbia Expects Turkish Stream's 2nd Leg to Pass via West Balkans - President

Belgrade expects that one of the legs of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline will pass through Serbia and the Western Balkans, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress meeting.

ISTANBUL (Sputnik) — Moscow and Ankara signed an intergovernmental agreement in October 2016 envisioning the construction of two underwater legs of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline in the Black Sea. The annual capacity of each leg is estimated to reach 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

"Carrying in mind that the Turkish Stream is currently being built, Serbia expects reaching an agreement that one branch of that pipeline will go over its territory…that is over the territory of the rest of Balkan countries," Vucic said.

One leg is designed for gas supplies directly to the Turkish market, the other for gas supplies through Turkey to European countries. The construction of the first leg began in May 2017, it is to be commissioned in March 2018. The second leg is to be put into operation in 2019.