Russia's Federation Council ratifies agreement on Turkish Stream

Russia’s Federation Council has approved the law on ratification of the agreement between Russian and Turkish governments on the construction the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline.

According to Deputy Energy Minister Yuri Sentyurin, who is an official representative of Russian government regarding the project, the agreement "implies the creation of a favorable regulatory and legal framework, including tax and customs regulations, for design, construction and further service treatment of the gas pipeline," TASS reports.

Sentyurin added that the Turkish Stream is designed to deliver Russian gas to Turkey, as well as "to ensure that the Russian side fulfills all its commitments on Russian gas supplies to the territory of the states of the European Union after 2019".

Moscow and Ankara signed an intergovernmental agreement on October 10, 2016 envisioning the construction of two underwater legs of the gas pipeline in the Black Sea. The annual capacity of each leg is estimated to reach 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Pipe-laying work for the Turkish Stream is expected to begin in 2017 and end in late 2019.

The pipeline will run beneath the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and continue to a hub on the Turkish-Greek border, from where the gas could be transferred to Southern Europe. Russia's energy company Gazprom will own rights for both underwater legs of the pipeline, while the land stretch of the first leg will be owned by the Turkish customers and the land stretch of the second leg will be controlled by a joint venture.

Russia’s State Duma ratified the agreement in January, while Turkey ratified the agreement late in 2016.