ISTANBUL, October 12. /TASS/. Russia has received all the required permissions to start current works under the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.
The minister made this statement after a meeting of the Russian-Turkish inter-governmental commission.
A constructive dialog is currently under way for obtaining permissions. This is a staged process. All the necessary permissions for the current work have been issued now. The Turkish side will provide companies with new additional permissions as and when necessary in compliance with the inter-governmental agreement, the Russian energy minister said.
The works on installation of the pipeline will be launched in 2017.
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"The intergovernmental agreement, which specifies the terms of the project’s implementation by commercial companies, was signed on October 10. The time of completion of the works is end-2019. Currently, a big preliminary work is underway," he said, adding that "the installation of the gas pipeline itself will start in 2017."
No obstacles or problems
In turn, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said he did not expect any problems with new permissions for the project.
"I don’t think there will be any obstacles. There are no obstacles or problems. As of the date the construction starts, all the permissions will be obtained," he said.
The Russian authorities announced the Turkish Stream in December 2014 to replace the South Stream gas pipeline project. It was planned that the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline would comprise four stretches with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each.
However, the negotiations on the project were subsequently suspended, including due to the crisis in bilateral relations. After talks held between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg in August 2016, a decision was made to resume works under the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, set up a working group and prepare a roadmap.
The Turkish Stream project envisages the construction of a gas pipeline across the Black Sea to the European part of Turkey and farther to the border with Greece. The pipeline’s offshore section is expected to equal about 910 km and its overland segment on the Turkish territory 180 km.
The project is estimated at €11.4 billion. Gas deliveries via the first stretch of the gas pipeline are designed wholly to meet the requirements of the growing Turkish market.