Parties Expect Turkish Stream Back on Negotiation Table After Formation of Turkish Government

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met with Turkey’s counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit.  

"The meeting with Mr Erdogan was the last on Vladimir Putin’s agenda for his first day in Turkey," the Kremlin wrote on Monday.  

The two leaders spoke about the Turkish Stream pipeline project during the meeting. According to RIA Novosti, the parties will re-address the question of its development after the formation of a new government in Turkey, after a general election was held earlier this month. 

According to Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak, despite the fast developments of the Nord Stream II pipeline extension project, "the Turkish Stream is still relevant."

Novak said that the pipeline would be important for customers in Turkey and in South-Eastern Europe, including Italy. 

"The Turkish Stream is not a long process," reads a statement released by the office of Novak.  

The Russian Minister also commented on the difficulties related to the current negotiations between Gazprom and CNPC on the Western route. 

“We are interested in a speedy agreement, but this process is not easy, given the slowdown of the Chinese economy… We will wait for further negotiations. It would be a good result to sign a contract in the first half of 2016,” Novak commented. 

On the other hand, according to Reuters, Rosneft is in talks with Chinese companies for its offshore Arctic projects. At the same time, Novatek (60%), CNPC (20%) and Total (20%) are holding talks about the Yamal LNG project. Russian newspapers wrote that a deal for the project would be signed in December.