Russia's energy committee stated yesterday that the intergovernmental agreement signed on the TurkStream gas pipeline will be voted out in the State Duma, the lower wing of the Russian parliament, in January.Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee of Energy Pavel Zavalny said, "We hoped voting would take place this year, but the last session of the Duma will be held on Dec. 21. However, we will not be able to make it to this time."Zavalny also said, "I expect the voting will take place in January. The first session of the Duma will be held on Jan. 9. The agreement has not yet been submitted to Duma's approval." The Russian government approved a draft legislation on Dec. 16 to enable Russia to ratify its agreement with Turkey on the TurkStream gas pipeline project. A statement released by the official website of the Russian government said it approved the draft federal law and submitted it to the State Duma in accordance with the established procedure. In the meantime, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that construction of the pipeline will begin in 2017 and that the construction of both the sea and the land sections will be completed by the end of 2019.Ankara and Moscow signed an intergovernmental agreement on the TurkStream pipeline project in October, which was endorsed on Dec. 2 at the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. It was ratified by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Dec. 5 and officially entered into force after it was published in the Official Gazette on Dec. 6.