On Wednesday at Russian Energy Week, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez said Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to create a gas hub in Turkey could be implemented.
"This proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin should be discussed. But I will say that it is possible to implement it. Russia has implemented successful infrastructure projects before," he said. Donmez noted that "it is too early to say whether Turkey knows how it can be implemented, because this proposal is new" for Ankara.
"We need to discuss [in this context] the legal, trade and economic and technical aspects. Turkey is working very actively with Russia. As you know, Russia has previously implemented major technological projects in Turkey. We are very reliable partners," the minister said.
He reminded that Turkey has long-term agreements on gas with the countries of the region. "And we have not faced any problems from our suppliers. There have been difficult periods, but Russia has always remained our reliable supplier. I am grateful to my Russian colleagues for maintaining such stability," Donmez said.
Speaking at the forum earlier, Putin said that Russia intends to expand the geography of gas supplies and "place the goods on the world markets." He suggested shifting the lost volumes of transit from the Nord streams to the Black Sea. Thus, according to the Russian leader, it will be possible to create the main route of natural gas supplies from Russia to Europe via Turkey. For this purpose, he voiced a proposal to create in Turkey the largest gas hub for Europe.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Salih Altuntaş/Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS