Less Pragmatism, More Strategic Cooperation
On October 10
th
2016, during 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Turkey and Russia finally signed an intergovernmental agreement to implement the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline project. The agreement foresees the construction of two parallel pipelines with 15.75 billion cubic meters of annual ... ... containment. Here the signing of the Turkish Stream project with Ankara is a solution. Russia gains new leverage vis-à-vis the European Union by officially incorporating the Turkish Stream into the picture. In that sense, Russia will be able to use Turkish ...
Turkish Stream was conceived in 2014 following Russia’s cancellation of South Stream which became a casualty of Russia-Ukrainian conflict and faced high opposition from the EU with regard to its anti-monopoly laws. The original plan for landfall in the EU (Bulgaria) will now occur in Turkey, while the distribution hub for Europe will be located at the border of Turkey and Greece. Being a strategically important transit point for Russian gas going to Europe and bypassing Ukraine, Turkey tries to increase its bargaining power and engages into price arbitrage with ...
... was organised between the foreign ministers of Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey (Ankara being represented by Volkan Bozkir, Minister for EU Affairs). The composition... ... certainly recalls the proposed route of the Turkish Stream pipeline, a project which was Russia’s reaction to the plan to halt development of the South Stream. Moreover... ... Balkan Peninsula.
It is also noteworthy that these countries want to build a common gas infrastructure, using among other things the financial resources of the European Union.
In the joint declaration
on strengthening cooperation in the energy...
