ISTANBUL, July 26. /TASS/. Turkey has got closer to implementation of the project on creating an international gas hub on its territory, the republic’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in an interview aired by A Haber TV channel.

"We are very close to reaching the goal of creating a gas hub. We have taken serious steps in this direction. We have infrastructure ready," he said.

In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed establishing such a hub in Turkey to where the lost gas transit flows through the Nord Stream pipeline could be redirected. Turkey has said that almost everything is ready to start the project in terms of infrastructure. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in late December 2023 that the project of a gas hub in Turkey might start being implemented in 2024.