Turkish Stream has ‘gotten stuck’: Report

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Baku on June 13, reportedly to discuss the latest developments in the region as well as leading energy projects. Putin also held a closed meeting with Gazprom chief Alexei Miller on June 15 over the company’s activities, but no clue was given about the project in the subsequent press announcement.

“At the Kremlin meeting, it was seen that there were some uncertainties over the Turkish Stream project following the talks with Turkey,” Gazprom sources told Kommersant.  

“We promised to Turkey’s gas grid Botaş to make a further gas discount in return for a pipeline agreement, but the project is right now on hold at Turkey’s part as the new government has not been established yet to offer political guarantees. Despite this, Botaş continues to ask for further cuts in gas prices without any intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Turkey for the gas pipeline project. Gazprom will, however, not make any discount on gas prices until a clear and binding agreement is inked between the two countries,” they added.

Gazprom announced last May that the construction works had started for the Turkish Stream, though no intergovernmental deal has yet been inked by Ankara and Moscow.