ST. PETERSBURG, June 1. /TASS/. Russia’s top gas producer Gazprom has launched talks on raising project financing for the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline project, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee Andrey Kruglov said Thursday.

"We’ve already launched talks with both foreign and Russian banks," 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 the project, set up a working group and prepare a roadmap.

The pipeline was to stretch by 660 km along the old corridor of the South Stream and by 250 km - in the new corridor in the direction of the European part of Turkey. The project’s total cost is estimated at 11.4 bln euros, the cost of the first line is seen at 4.3 bln euros.

It is planned that Gazprom’s investment in the Turkish Stream project in 2017 will amount to 41.92 bln rubles ($700 mln).