Russia has received assurances that Turkey will allow the construction of a gas pipeline under its sector of the Black Sea, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.
Following a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin said that Russia will receive permission for building this part of the South Stream pipeline by Nov. 10.
South Stream rivals the planned U.S. and EU-backed Nabucco pipeline. Turkey also backs Nabucco and says the two projects should complement each other.
Funded by Russia's Gazprom and Italy's Eni state companies, the South Stream exits Russia under the Black Sea and enters the European Union via Bulgaria. Russia presented it in 2007 as an alternative route that bypasses Ukraine and Belarus, which it has portrayed as unreliable partners. It is planned to go online in 2015.
Russia also has committed to join a prospective Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline via Turkey.
The United States and European Union, however, are seeking to channel Central Asian gas into Nabucco, which is to run from the Caspian Sea to Europe, circumventing Russia.
While a Turkish government commission is examining the potential environmental concerns arising from the South Stream, Ankara is unlikely to resist the pipeline plans.
Putin said South Stream and the Samsun-Ceyhan «are very important not only for Turkey but for the entire continent.»
Bilateral trade between Russia and Turkey hit $33 billion in 2008. The leaders expressed the desire to triple the figure by 2015.
Author: NATALIYA VASILYEVA
