Russia may sign an intergovernmental agreement on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline in the 2nd quarter of 2015, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said an interview with the Rossiya24 news channel, TASS reported Saturday.
He said the major Russian producer and exporter of natural gas, OAO Gazprom, had coordinated the route of the new pipeline with the Turkish side.
The Turkish Stream is a new pipeline project that was emerged on the table of negotiations after Russia had cancelled the South Stream project last year.
On December 1 President Vladimir Putin said Russia had been forced to cancel South Stream, as the EU didn’t support the project that was supposed to provide energy security for the region. Instead, Russia chose to redirect its offshore gas pipe to Turkey, renaming it Turkish Stream and setting up a gas hub on the border of Turkey and Greece.
Estimates suggest European companies are poised to lose about €2.5 billion from the cancellation.
