Baku, Azerbaijan, July 28
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
Russia’s Gazprom PJSC is implementing a strategy to minimize transit risks and it should be interested in the construction of pipelines, which will ensure the delivery of Russian gas directly both to North and South Europe, such as the Turkish Stream, senior analyst of VYGON Consulting Maria Belova told Trend July 28.
Therefore, the Turkish Stream is the company’s major project, and the work to coordinate its details, frozen in November 2015, will be continued, said Belova.
Russia suspended the South Stream project, designed to supply Russian gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine, in December 2014. Russia said "the EU's non-constructive position" was the reason for the project's suspension. Then it was decided to build the Turkish Stream through the territory of Turkey, instead of the South Stream.
But the project came under threat in late 2015 due to sharp deterioration of relations between Moscow and Ankara when Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber with two pilots on board. On June 27, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to Putin over the death of Russian Su-24 pilot and expressed regret over the incident. After that, the two countries’ relations began to improve.
Russia and Turkey have announced the resumption of negotiations on the Turkish Stream this week and the intention to create a working group on this project.
Turkey is interested in this project, according to Belova, since it will contribute to the country to become a gas hub, thanks also to the growth of transit gas flows.
The first branch of the Turkish Stream will make it possible for Russia to supply gas to Turkey under current contracts, which are now being implemented as transit through the territory of Ukraine via the Trans-Balkan pipeline.
The construction of the pipeline’s second branch will allow Russia to further reduce the volume of Ukrainian transit by redirecting the gas supply to the countries of Southeastern Europe (in particular, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Serbia, Italy), added the expert.
“If negotiations are successful, it will mean that companies have come to a common, mutually beneficial denominator,” noted Belova.
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