MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to a press release on the cabinet's website, "the government decided at a meeting on Thursday to approve the draft federal law on ratification of the agreement between Russia and Turkey on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project and to send the document to the State Duma."
On October 10, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement envisioning the construction of two underwater legs of the gas pipeline in the Black Sea. The annual capacity of each leg is estimated to reach 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Pipe-laying work for the Turkish Stream is expected to begin in 2017 and end in late 2019.
The Turkish Stream project was announced in late 2014 by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his state visit to Turkey. In November 2015, the project was suspended after a Russian aircraft was downed by a Turkish fighter in Syria. A thaw in relations between Moscow and Ankara began last June following Turkey's apology to Russia.
