Turkey: Work on Russian-proposed gas hub project initiated

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Jan 00:01
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Turkish energy minister says that the concrete phase of the construction has begun.

Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez (AA)

Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez announced Monday that his country began working on the Russian-proposed gas hub project.

"We intend to take advantage of this project, there are opportunities and terminals for this," Donmez stated in an interview with Turkish broadcast TVnet.

"Our preliminary preparation time is a year, now we are assessing the infrastructure and details," Donmez said, noting that European country's interest in the project could grow with time.

"We will not tie the price to anyone. It will be a kind of supermarket where there are offers."

On October 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow could redirect gas transit from the Nord Stream pipelines, damaged by an explosion classified by Russia as an act of terrorism, to Turkey. Unprecedented damage was dealt to three out of four Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez stated then that Turkey and Russia have come to an agreement over creating a gas hub that will link the two through Europe, and Ankara has already started on its part of the work.

On October 14, Erdogan said the two leaders instructed relevant institutions of the two countries to quickly begin work on the idea of creating a hub in Turkey for gas supplies to Europe.

On December 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Ankara is carrying out preparations to establish the gas hub project suggested earlier by Moscow.

The CEO of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, landed in Ankara on December 10 and stated that the discussion of the gas hub project in Turkey is the primary result of his visit.

The pipeline of the hub starts on the Russian coast, runs over 930 km through the Black Sea, and comes ashore in the Thrace region of Turkey.

It directly connects the largest gas reserves in Russia to the Turkish gas transportation network, providing reliable energy to Turkey, and South and Southeast Europe.