Gazprom Ready for Turkish Stream Talks after Turkish Apology

Gazprom spokesperson Sergey Kupriyanov has announced that the energy giant is ready to discuss Turkish Stream with Ankara following the move by Turkey's President Erdogan to apologize over the downer Russian warplane.

"Gazprom is open to dialogue on Turkish Stream, it has always been," TASS news agency quotes Kupriyanov as saying.

Turkish Stream was announced as an alternative to the South Stream gas pipeline project which, going under the Black Sea, was to deliver Russian gas to Central Europe via Bulgaria and Serbia. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin abandoned the project during a visit to Turkey in 2014, citing EU opposition. Gazprom later said Moscow would pursue Turkish Stream instead.

Talks and any further activity on the project were suspended a year later, days after the incident involving a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber that Turkish air forces shot down after it allegedly violated the country's airspace.

Turkish Stream negotiations had earlier been market by pricing disputes as well, including possible discounts per 1000 cubic meters of gas to which Moscow was reluctant to agree. Gazprom later announced the pipeline would have only half the initially projected capacity as Europe did not show interest in linking its gas infrastructure to the future pipe in Turkey.


 

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