The construction of the TurkStream pipeline will be completed on time, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday, Sputnik reports.
"The construction is underway, ongoing. The contractor guarantees ... that the construction will be completed in a timely manner," Novak said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 broadcaster.
Turkish Stream is envisaged as a 570-mile twin pipeline to transfer gas from large reserves in Russia to Turkey and further up to south and southeast Europe. With a combined transport capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters, the two offshore parallel pipelines will run from Russia's Russkaya CS near Anapa city through the Black Sea to Turkey's receiving terminal of Luleburgaz near Kiyikoy city, at which point one of the strings will continue further up to the Turkish-European border.
The construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2019. The project is expected to ensure secure energy supplies to the Turkish and European consumers, bypassing unreliable transit partners.
