Economy, archive

Turkey considering south stream gas corridor

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz says Turkey is open to talks with Russia on South Stream gas corridor.

18.04.2014 - Update : 18.04.2014
Turkey considering south stream gas corridor


ANKARA 

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz on Friday said Turkey is open to talks with Russia on South Stream gas corridor.

"We are open to any proposal which makes the South Stream gas corridor more strategic. Unlike Europe, Turkey realised their dependence on foreign energy resources before events in Ukraine, taking actions such as increased investments in renewables and nuclear power plants," Yildiz said in Ankara.

Yildiz announced that there will be a meeting on Monday in Ankara with Alexander Medvedev, the vice president of Russian energy company Gazprom, where they will discuss details of the South Stream gas pipeline project, as well as current natural gas prices applied to Turkey.

"As with previous agreements, Turkey expects a price arrangement for natural gas flowing from Russia," Yildiz said. "We expect that Ukraine will have an agreement with Russia in the next 3-4 months."

The West Stream pipeline currently supplies 12.5 percent of Turkey's natural gas from Russia through Ukraine. More than half of Turkey's natural gas comes from Russia through the Western and Blue Stream pipelines. The South Stream project is expected to be operational by 2018, and will transfer Russian gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and onwards to Greece, Italy and Austria. Many European countries rely almost entirely on Russian natural gas, with Russia currently supplying 25 percent of Europe's gas.

Putin wrote a letter last week to 18 European leaders including Turkey which import Russian gas, in which he threatened to cut off gas supplies to the Ukraine over the country's unpaid bills, expressing concerns over Ukraine’s increasing debt to Russia.

englishnews@aa.com.tr

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
Related topics
Bu haberi paylaşın