Moscow and Ankara will discuss the question of oil transit around the Bosphorus and Dardanelles

The proposals of the Russian company 'Transneft' to transport oil around the Black Sea channels of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles will be discussed during the visit of Russian president Dmitri Medvedev to Ankara on May 11th-12th, stated 'Transneft' head Nikolay Tokarev. 'A working group will get together on May 4th, an intergovernmental commission will hold a session on May 5th-6th, then on May 11th-12th, during Medvedev's visit to Ankara, the question will be elevated to another level' - he said.

The head of the Russian pipeline monopoly pointed out that Russia, Italy and Turkey have different opinions on the volume of oil to be transported through Black Sea until 2015.

Russia estimates it to be 132-236 million tonnes, Turkey as 200 million tonnes, Italy as 148 million tonnes. Tokarev noted that Turkey's idea is to transport 110 million tonnes through the channel with the rest transported through the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline.

"The project will be economically acceptable if the oil transported through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles is redirected to the pipelines of Samsun-Ceyhan and Burgas-Alexandroupolis and restrictions or full prohibition are placed on transportation through the channel", Tokarev says.

It is suggested that only 60 million tonnes of oil be transported through the channels. The pipelines of Samsun-Ceyhan and Burgas-Alexandroupolis were specially constructed to transport oil around the channels.