Turkey is ready to start construction of the Turkish Stream

Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Tuesday in Moscow that the Turkish side is ready to begin construction of the first stage of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline. This suggests that the representatives of Turkey and Russia are still discussing this topic. “Political decisions are required to regulate the issues of further implementation of the project,” Zeybekci said.

At the same time, the tensions did not affect the sale of Russian gas to Turkey, since Turkey remains the main buyer for Gazprom along with Germany. In 2015, Russia provided the Turkish side with 26 billion cubic meters of gas, which accounts for 55 percent of Turkey's needs. Further negotiations at a higher level will take place on August 9: the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will meet in St. Petersburg.

In turn, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, who heads the delegation at the talks in Moscow, said that the Turkish side "is open for the construction of the first pipeline." “We are ready for a dialogue with Russia in the energy sector,” he said. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the Turkish flow project "will make gas supplies to this country safer and more favorable."

An agreement was reached on the creation of working groups under the ministries of energy of Russia and Turkey in order to "restore this project to the stage of implementation." At the same time, the joint Russian-Turkish intergovernmental commission resumed its work last week. This was done after a long-term freeze on Russian-Turkish economic, political and commercial relations.

In addition, the ministries of Russia and Turkey expressed their intention to gradually resume cooperation in the field of economy, energy, agriculture, transport and other spheres. Novak noted that energy is a key area and the Russian side is ready for negotiations on the implementation of joint projects in this area.

Along with this, the Turkish side removed all legal obstacles associated with the construction of a nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, in the southern part of Turkey. The next meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation will be held in Turkey in October, the committee will meet every three months.