"We are waiting for European partners to make proposals on the issue. They are the ones responsible for making decisions concerning the development of their own gas infrastructure. No practical proposals have been made so far," Novak told journalists during his visit to Hungary.
In a surprise decision last December, Russia scrapped its years-old South Stream pipeline project that was to bring Russian natural gas across the Black Sea through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Italy and Austria.
Moscow cited the European Union's unproductive stance as the reason behind this change of heart, and unveiled a fallback plan to deliver gas to Europe through Turkey.
The 180km (112 miles)-long pipeline is expected to make a landfall near the village of Kayakoy in southeastern Turkey and cross into Greece near Ipsala, where Moscow and Ankara have agreed to set up a gas hub.
The pipeline will have a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters of gas a year, which is equivalent to what the South Stream was to carry to Europe. Turkey will receive around 16 billion cubic meters of gas via the new pipeline, with the remaining 47 billion earmarked for Europe.
The pipeline's route from the Greek border onward has not been mapped yet, pending Europe's decision. But the would-be transit countries – mostly Serbia and Bulgaria – earlier complained about having lost millions of dollars in development costs and transit fees.
