Baku, Azerbaijan, July 6
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
The construction of the first branch of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which will stretch through the bottom of the Black Sea to the coast of Turkey, is a matter of time, Sergey Pravosudov, director of the Russian National Energy Institute, told Trend.
"Three-quarters of this route will be constructed as part of the permission received for the construction of the previously canceled South Stream pipeline," he said. "There are no problems at this stage."
The only issue left is the end of the route in the territorial waters of Turkey, which also requires permission.
The offshore section of the "Turkish Stream" pipeline will consist of four parallel branches of the gas pipelines with a length over 900 kilometers, passing through the Black Sea. The offshore gas pipeline will begin near the city of Anapa in Russia and will reach the Turkish coast 100 kilometers west of Istanbul, near the settlement of Kıyıkoy. Then an onshore gas pipeline will be built. It will connect the offshore section with the existing gas transportation system of Turkey near the city of Lüleburgaz and from there it will reach its end point near the city of İpsala.
Previously, Turkey gave permission for an engineering survey of the Turkish Stream offshore section. The document envisages the survey of the first branch of the gas pipeline in the exclusive economic zone and the territorial waters of Turkey. However, Turkey has not given its permission for construction yet.
Pravosudov believes that this permission can be obtained after launching the construction work.
"The construction can be started now upon the existing permissions," he said. "Then it is possible to gradually achieve an agreement with Turkey about reaching its banks."
"The matter can rest only in postponement," he said. "But I think it will not be very long because it is in nobody's interests."
Earlier it was reported that the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline can be delayed due to disagreements between the sides regarding the cost of the supplied gas. A six-month period, during which Gazprom and Turkish Botas had to reach an agreement on gas prices, ended in late June. It is reported that concluding of an agreement can be delayed at least until October.
However, later it was reported that the pipe-lay vessel of the Italian Saipem - Castoro sei company headed to the Russian shores of the Black Sea to prepare for the construction of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream.
The first pipe will be laid till late 2016, a representative of South Stream Transport BV company, working out a pipeline project, told Trend earlier.
Edited by CN
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Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AygunBadalova