MOSCOW
New planned Russian natural gas pipeline to Turkey will provide secure supplies for Turkey, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said Friday.
In early December, Russia scrapped the South Stream project, which was planned to carry gas under the western Black Sea to Bulgaria and further into European markets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a new gas pipeline route via Black Sea to reach Turkey's northwestern Thrace region, while a gas hub will also be constructed at the Turkish-Greek border to transfer gas further in to Europe.
"Putin’s last visit to Turkey added new perspectives to Turkish-Russian energy cooperation," Kupriyanov told The Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
Underlining that the new proposed pipeline would create a secure supply of natural gas to Turkey, Kupriyanov said the entry point of the pipeline to the Black Sea will be from the "Russkaya" compressor, located in southern Russia.
Kupriyanov added the new pipeline’s name could be "Turkish Stream."
Turkey consumes some 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually and nearly 60 percent of this gas is supplied by Russia.
"Gazprom has always been a guarantee of secure gas supplies to Turkey and our collaboration with Turkey in this area will deepen further," Kupriyanov added.
