The Turkish government has given Russia final permission to operate in Turkey's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea in the framework of the South Stream project, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“The Turkish government very recently issued us final permission to work in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone along the bottom of the Black Sea,” he said.
“We are grateful to our Turkish partner,” he said.
The South Stream gas pipeline, designed to carry up to 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, is being built to supply Russian gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine. In order to implement the overland part of the project, intergovernmental agreements have been signed with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria.
The partners for constructing the marine section of the gas pipeline are Gazprom (50%), Italian company Eni (20%), Germany’s Wintershall (15%) and France’s EDF (15%). In the third quarter of last year, the consolidated feasibility study for South Stream was completed, as was the feasibility study for building national sections of the pipeline through Southern and Central Europe.
