MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit Turkey in January 2020, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"During one of the latest phone calls, Putin and Erdogan have agreed that in the first 10 days of January 2020, the surface portion of the Turkish Stream will be ready. They were discussing Putin’s potential visit to Turkey. This trip is currently planned," he said.

The Kremlin spokesman did not provide the specific date of the visit.

Earlier, Gazprom informed that the Turkish Stream pipeline would begin to function by the end of 2019.

About the Turkish Stream

In December 2014, Russia abandoned the South Stream gas pipeline project through Bulgaria and replaced it with a pipeline of similar capacity, which was later called the Turkish Stream.

Gazprom began construction of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream in May 2017, managed by South Stream Transport B.V. (100% subsidiary of Gazprom).

The offshore section of the pipeline runs along the bottom of the Black Sea to the coast of Turkey. Its length is 930 km. The pipeline will be continued by a 180-km land transit line to the border of Turkey with neighboring countries.

The first line will be designed for the Turkish market, the second - for gas supply to the countries of South and Southeast Europe. The capacity of each line is 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The first deliveries are scheduled for the end of 2019.

Gazprom announced the completion of deep-sea laying of the offshore section of the first Turkish Stream in April 2018.

At the end of May 2018, Gazprom and the Turkish government signed a protocol on the land section of the Turkish Stream pipeline transit line to supply Russian gas to European consumers. Gazprom and the Turkish company Botas concluded an agreement on the basic conditions and parameters for the construction of the section. Joint venture TurkAkim Gaz Tasima A. S. will carry out construction of the land section.