Hungary intends to complete the expansion of its pipeline capacity for the Turkish Stream gas pipeline by the end of the year, Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum following the talks with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto.
"Our colleagues confirm the obligations under the protocol between Gazprom and the Hungarian partners on extension of the gas pipeline infrastructure by the end of the year. Therefore, the issues of construction of the Turkish Stream and gas transportation to European partners are in line with the plan," TASS cited the minister as saying.
Deputy director of energy policy of the Institute of Energy and Finances, Alexey Belogoriev, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that today, the fate of the European part of the Turkish Stream seems to be solved, and the implementation of the project is guaranteed. "In principle, all the basic agreements have already been concluded, and there are no serious concerns regarding the implementation as of now," he said.
"The Hungarian part of the gas pipeline network is planned to be put into commercial operation by the end of 2020. In general, it is expected that the gas pipeline will reach its planned capacity by the end of 2021. There are no serious legal restrictions left," Alexei Belogoryev added.
