New gas pipeline to Turkey to be protected from outside interference, expert says

MOSCOW, 15 Oct – PRIME. Outside interference in the work of the underwater part of the new Russian-Turkish gas pipeline at the bottom of the Black Sea will be minimized or impossible. Boris Martsinkevich, editor-in-chief of the Geoenergy Info analytical magazine, told RIA Novosti about this.

“In principle, it is safe. There are two territorial zones of Russia and Turkey, exclusive economic zones of one and the other country … The underwater route has already been prepared for the construction of the Turkish Stream, all studies have been carried out, it has been checked for the presence of ammunition from the times (World War II – ed.) war. Preliminary huge work is already in the asset,” the expert said.

According to him, the Montreux Convention gives Turkey the right to regulate the entry into the Black Sea of ​​warships of states that do not belong to the Black Sea basin. The country is also a NATO member, so a conflict within the bloc in the event of an attack on the gas pipeline would be inevitable, Martsinkevich added.

The expert explained that the ground infrastructure for expanding the underwater part of the gas pipeline has already been laid. The total volume of fuel pumped through the new lines of the gas pipeline will be about 31.5 billion cubic meters per year, possibly excluding the part of the gas that is already involved in the gasification of the North Caucasus.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin said that Russia is able to move gas transit from the Nord Streams to the Black Sea region and Turkey. The head of state discussed this idea with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The leaders instructed to work out the issue in detail and quickly.

According to the head of “Gazprom” Alexei Miller, the route of the gas pipeline in the Black Sea at the moment is safer than other areas for the supply of “blue fuel”.