Turkey has ordered, together with Russia, to start building an international natural gas distribution centerThis was announced on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We will find the most appropriate place for this distribution center and build it,” Erdogan told Turkish reporters, although it should be located in western Thrace, near the border between Bulgaria and mainland Greece.
Erdogan met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday in Astana, who proposed this measure to Turkey and said that this country was the best route for gas supplies to the European Union (EU), after Denmark and Sweden detected leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines in late September, which governments called “sabotage”.
Erdogan indicated that the Turkish Ministry of Energy and the Russian state company Gazprom rfirst they will write a feasibility report and present it to the leaders. The supply would take place through the TurkStream pipeline, laid on the bottom of the Black Sea, and can transport up to 31.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Hungary and North Macedonia receive supplies in this way.
Turkey will increase the safety of pipelines to avoid accidents
Putin also showed on Thursday concern for the security of the TurkStream and alluded to an attempted sabotage, without giving further details. Both Erdogan and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, have assured that Turkey will increase security to avoid any accidents and ensure the safety of the pipeline.
Turkey already receives Russian gas through two pipelines: the Blue Stream, which flows through the Black Sea and the Trans-Balkan Sea, which crosses Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.
Turkey has good relations with Ukraine, a country to which it sells combat drones and other military equipment, and with Russia, with which it has closed several energy agreements, not only in the field of gas but also in nuclear energy.
