The State Duma (lower house of the Russian Parliament) may ratify the Turkish Stream gas pipeline deal in January 2017, the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Chair Leonid Slutsky said Dec. 20, Sputnik International reported.
“The first spring session of the International Affairs Committee will review the deal,” Slutsky said.
Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on the Turkish Stream project Oct. 10.
The document envisions 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. One leg is provided to supply gas directly to the Turkish market, the other for the supply of gas by transit through Turkey to Europe.
Pipe-laying work for the Turkish Stream is expected to begin in 2017 and end in late 2019.