It should be noted that the much-touted "Turkish Stream" seriously perturb the European Union at the beginning. Firstly, due to the fact that the decision on its construction was made instead of laying the "South Stream", the refusal of which Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly announced in December of the last year during his visit to Ankara.
That was also when Moscow and Ankara reached an agreement on the construction of the "Turkish stream," which would run under the Black Sea to the west of Turkey, where a hub for Russian gas sales to European countries would constructed at the border with Greece.
The beginning was promising. But afterwards disagreements emerged between the parties. Ankara was demanded significant discounts on Russian gas and Moscow was waving away the demands of the Turks for a long time. Then it turned out that Turkey agreed to build only one line of the pipeline and only for themselves. As for the other three lines, they would be constructed, if European countries would have showed interest in them, said in Ankara. Thus, the need for a gas hub on the border with Greece has automatically vanished. That is, the "Turkish Stream" project was almost fourfold truncated.
Furthermore, this is no advancement on the first line. Moscow explains this by saying that for the time being they have no one to negotiate: and the government in Turkey is temporal, and as long as the early parliamentary elections are not held and a new government is not formed, the signing of the intergovernmental agreement is out of question.
Although, seven months have passed since the time of Putin`s statements (on December 1, 2014) in Ankara on "Turkish Stream" until the time of the Turkish government`s resignation. In this interval of time, the parties have not agreed.
More about:
