Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 22
By Orkhan Guluzadeh - Trend:
The issue with regard to the necessity of implementing the 'Turkish Stream' project will be cleared up soon, Ali Riza Alaboyun, Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister, said in an exclusive interview with Trend Oct. 22.
He said an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Turkey on the implementation of the 'Turkish Stream' will be reviewed after Turkey's parliamentary election, to be held November 1.
Alaboyun also noted that the project, as is known, was initiated by Russia, and under a memorandum of understanding signed between Gazprom and Botas, Gazprom was granted permission to conduct researches.
The minister also said that Turkey stands ready to cooperate under mutual trust and benefit.
Alaboyun further said Turkey has always supported and will continue to support all the actions to make energy resources work for peace and security.
He also said that for 28 years the Turkish market has been one of the most important markets for Russia.
"Turkey has imported 315 billion cubic meters of gas from Russian since 1987 to the present day," said the minister. "Currently, 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas is imported by Turkey's private sector, while the remaining 20 billion cubic meters is imported by the [state-owned] BOTAS."
He reminded that Turkey also has contracts on purchasing gas with Azerbaijan, Iran, Nigeria and Algeria.
"Today, energy supply and energy security is one of the most important and strategic issues for every country," said Alaboyun.
Accordingly, in order to avoid the risks in the energy sector, Turkey intends to diversity the supply sources of energy resources, he added.
The Turkish Stream project envisages construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea. It was supposed that the pipeline will consist of four branches with the capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas each.
The gas to be delivered via the first branch is completely designed for the Turkish market, while the rest of the volume will be delivered to the Turkish-Greek border where it is planned to create a gas hub.
It was planned to start the pipeline's construction in June, however, it is still under discussion.