Russia counts on the European Union's ironclad guarantees on the Turkish Stream pipeline project's second leg, given the disappointing experience of the South Stream project, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said today.
"We cannot but be troubled by the attempts of a number of EU institutions to torpedo energy projects in Europe with Russian participation, primarily the Nord Stream 2 project." Sputnik cited the minister as saying.
"In order to not repeat the sad experience of the South Stream… we expect from Brussels ironclad guarantees for the implementation of this [Turkish Stream] project," he said, expressing concern toward the European Commission's "ambiguity" over the pipeline's second leg.
An associate professor of the Graduate School of Corporate Management of RANEPA, Ivan Kapitonov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that by such a statement, Russia once again directly said Europe that "it is in its interests to build alternative gas pipelines of the highest capacity possible in order to satisfy its own energy consumption."
"At the same time, Russia is only interested in building pipelines which would be crucial for Europe, we will not invest in those pipelines that do not receive confirmation from the European Commission," he said.
"In this case, a rigid and weighted position was sounded, and it is difficult not to agree with it. I think that European partners should hear us. And if their position is not clear, then the construction of the Turkish Stream project's second leg will lose its meaning. This statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is also encouraging European partners to implement the Nord Stream-2," Ivan Kapitonov added.
Sberbank CIB analyst Valery Nesterov, in turn, noted Turkey's contradictory position, which seems to be ready for cooperation, but didn't connect the dots yet. "There is full clarity on the first leg, but there is no definitive agreement on the second leg, Turkey would like to buy and resell gas imported into its territory. The Russian side wants to transit gas, pay transit fees and sell it freely through the gas hub on the border with Greece," the expert said.
If the search for a common language with Ankara is delayed, the second leg of the Turkish Stream may be moved in the direction of Bulgaria. "The Turkish Stream can be divided in into two parts: one leg goes to Turkey, providing gas for only Turkey. The second leg, which is used for transit to Europe, can be launched into Bulgaria," the Sberbank CIB analyst explained.
As for the fluctuations of Brussels regarding the second leg of the Turkish Stream, according to Nesterov, they can be explained by the difficult situation in the energy-dependent EU. "Authoritative research shows that it is unrealistic to reduce dependence on Russian gas. And the American LNG will not be competitive in Europe for a long time," he assured.
The expert specified that there are a number of gas projects that could serve Brussels as an alternative to the second leg of the Turkish Stream, for example, the Southern Gas Corridor, but, firstly, the Turkish Stream still looks the most promising today, and secondly, Russian gas is the most competitive in this direction.
On May 7, Gazprom launched the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline in the Black Sea. The annual capacity of each leg is estimated to reach 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Gazprom executive Alexei Miller said the Turkish Stream project would be finished by the end of 2019.
