Russia, Turkey Plan to Simultaneously Launch Both Legs of Turkish Stream

Russia and Turkey have agreed to simultaneously launch both legs of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline on December 30, 2019, within the framework of an intergovernmental agreement, the Kommersant newspaper reported Tuesday citing the document.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia and Turkey signed on Monday the agreement on the gas pipeline for deliveries of Russian natural gas to Turkey and Eastern Europe, which envisions construction of two underwater legs in the Black Sea. The agreement was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the World Energy Forum in Istanbul.

According to the draft agreement, seen by the Russian Kommersant newspaper, Russia's Gazprom keeps the right to cancel the construction of the second leg that would transfer the gas to Europe via Turkey.

The Turkish Stream project was announced in the end of 2014 by Putin on his state visit to Turkey. The pipeline is expected to run below the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and continue to a hub on the Turkish-Greek border, from where the gas could be transferred to other European countries.

According to the agreement, Gazprom will own rights for both underwater legs of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, while the land stretch of the first leg will be owned by the Turkish customers and the land stretch of the second leg will be controlled by a joint venture.