Turkey hopes Russian gas hub roadmap developed by end of 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic and other officials attend a ceremony for a dual natural gas line, TurkStream, connecting Russia and Turkey, in Istanbul, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020 (Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)
Turkey expects to be developing a roadmap for the establishment of a Russian gas hub by the end of 2022, according to Fatih Donmez, Turkish Energy Minister.
"By the end of the year, we will clarify the roadmap that will be followed by the natural gas hub that we plan to establish in the city of Kiyikoy," Donmez said, as quoted by Turkey's TRT Haber broadcaster, revealing that Ankara expects no issues with the energy supply this winter.
Last month, Donmez announced that Ankara and Moscow have come to an agreement over creating a gas hub that will link the two through Europe, and Ankara has already started on its part of the work.
TurkStream is an energy infrastructure project that spans 930 km, starts in Russia, and extends into Turkey, supplying the latter with Russian gas.
On October 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow could redirect gas transit from the Nord Stream pipelines, damaged by an explosion classified by Russia as an act of terrorism, to Turkey. Unprecedented damage was dealt to three out of four Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
On October 14, Erdogan said the two leaders instructed relevant institutions of the two countries to quickly begin work on the idea of creating a hub in Turkey for gas supplies to Europe.
So far, there isn't a full understanding of how and to which clients the Turkish hub's gas will be supplied, not to mention the exact location in which the hub will be built.
As for the cost of the gas hub in Turkey, sources said that it is too early to speak about the cost range. The price of the infrastructure and execution will be uncovered after agreeing on all the details of the project.