SOCHI, September 30. /TASS/. Most permits for implementation of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project have been already obtained, Gazprom Deputy CEO Vitaly Markelov said at the International Investment Forum Sochi-2016 on Friday.

"Most of them have been obtained," he said, adding that "the exploration permit has been the most important one."

Survey may start prior to intergovernmental agreement signing

According to the company's CEO, Alexey Miller, Gazprom may start survey of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline route prior to signing the intergovernmental agreement with Turkey.

"We do not link the survey work to the intergovernmental agreement," Miller said.

Earlier Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the draft intergovernmental agreement was expected to be agreed and signed in October 2016. Also, he said, the construction of the first line of the Turkish Stream would start after obtainment of all required construction and survey permits for Turkish territorial waters. Russia and Turkey also intend to set up a working group for the Turkish Stream, he added.

The Turkish Stream pipeline was announced by the Russian authorities in December 2014 as a replacement for the South Stream pipeline. It was planned that the marine section of Turkish Stream would comprise four lines with the capacity of 15.75 bln cubic meters each. The pipeline is to run 660 km in the old South Stream corridor and 250 km in the new corridor in the direction of the European part of Turkey. The project’s total cost was estimated at 11.4 bln euro, with the cost of the first line amounting to 4.3 bln euro.

Natural gas supplies through the first line of the pipeline are planned for meeting the demand of the growing Turkish market. On December 1, 2014, Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom and Turkish company Botas signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline with the capacity of 63 bln cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea. In 2015, Russia’s Energy Minister Novak said that at the first stage it was planned to lay two branches of the pipeline.