Work for a planned "gas hub" in Türkiye is a complex project that will require time to come to fruition, Russia said Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the idea of a Turkish gas hub last year as European countries moved to sharply cut their imports of Russian gas in response to Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine.
"It is clear that this is quite a complicated task, it is a rather complex project which, unfortunately, cannot be implemented without time shifts, without technical or other problems. Such situations are inevitable in relation to the Turkish hub. We will follow it, we will continue to work with our Turkish partners," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov had first said in February that there could be delays with the plan as a result of the devastating earthquakes that struck southeast Türkiye and Syria last month, causing widespread destruction across the region.
Putin floated the idea of the hub in Türkiye after unexplained explosions damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
Türkiye, a NATO member state that has maintained relations with both Russia and Ukraine, currently imports all its gas needs and has extensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) import infrastructure. Ankara believes it can leverage its existing and new trade relations to become a gas hub.
The statement comes nearly two weeks after Türkiye’s ruling party sent a draft law to Parliament that seeks to establish a competitive natural gas market, as the country attempts to become a gas trading center bringing together suppliers and consumers.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez earlier this month said they were nearing the completion of the legislation for the hub that he said was planned to be set up and made operational within a year.
The bill submitted by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Wednesday says the proposed changes would increase safe and affordable access to energy for Turkish consumers through a diversification of supply and the entry of additional players in the market.
The regulations also aim to build a trustworthy market where domestic and foreign companies can trade natural gas and allow state energy company BOTAŞ and private entities to import natural gas, the bill’s text read.
The draft law also aims to split BOTAŞ’s natural gas supply and infrastructure operations to encourage competition and free trade in the market.
Meanwhile, Türkiye is set to start pumping the natural gas it discovered in the Black Sea into the national grid by the end of April.
It has gradually discovered about 710 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas since August 2020. The reserve in the Sakarya gas field is estimated to have a market value of $1 trillion (TL 18.9 trillion).
About 10 million cubic meters (mcm) of Black Sea gas per day is expected to be transferred in the initial phase, while the infrastructure has been set up to enable this figure to peak at 40 mcm through 2026.