Turkey ‘a reliable partner for Russia’

MOSCOW - Anadolu Agency

Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak.

Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak considers Turkey to be a reliable partner for the delivery of Russian natural gas to Europe, he said in a live TV interview Dec. 22.

“We have recently had very good relations with our Turkish partners, especially in the field of energy,” Novak told Russian news channel Rossiya 24 in an interview.

“I find this relationship reliable. We hope, of course, that all existing agreements will be fully carried out,” he added.

On Dec. 1 Russian President Vladimir Putin made an official state visit to Turkey, during which he announced the cancelation of the “South Stream” natural gas pipeline project. Instead, a new gas pipeline project has been proposed, which will carry gas via Turkey to Europe.

Meanwhile, Russia is discussing legal issues with some of its partners over the scrapped South Stream gas pipeline project but financial claims are not expected, Novak told Kommersant newspaper yesterday, Reuters reported.

“We understand that the countries, through which the gas pipeline was supposed to go, were expecting investment projects and the creation of jobs and tax revenue growth,” Novak said.

“There is a legal study over the intergovernmental agreements that were signed in 2008-2009.”
Novak said he did not expect financial claims to come from the agreements on the $40-billion pipeline project, which was to enter the European Union via Bulgaria.