Ankara, Moscow ready to unfreeze Turkish Stream project

Turkey has announced its readiness to begin the construction of the first line of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

Censor.NET reports citing DW.

As Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci reported on Tuesday, there are certain political decisions for further implementation of the project. According to him, the issue of construction of the Black Sea gas pipeline is now being discussed with the Russian side. The Turkish Stream is beneficial for both countries, the minister believes.

Moreover, Zeybekci said that Ankara has removed all legal barriers that prevented the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant - a major Russia's project implemented by Rosatom. It stipulates the construction of four power units of 1.2 GW capacity each.

In December 2014, Moscow and Ankara reached an agreement on the construction of a gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey across the Black Sea. The project was dubbed the Turkish Stream and intended to have four lines with a capacity of up to 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually. About 16 bcm was to be supplied for use in Turkey while the remaining 47 bcm was to go to a hub on the Greek-Turkish border to be transported onwards to Europe. Following the deterioration of political relations between Russia and Turkey in November 2015, the project was suspended.