Russia may freeze Turkish Stream gas project, says report

Angered by Turkey’s act of downing Russian fighter jet near Syria border, Russia is bracing for more economic retaliation. According to reports, Russia will the freeze work on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project meant for transporting Russian gas to Europe, bypassing Ukraine. The project involves building a gas pipeline under the Black Sea to Turkey and extending the line from Turkey to Greece, and then to southeastern Europe.

After the jet-downing, Kremlin has slapped trade sanctions on Turkey although Russian energy exports to Turkey have not been affected.

Putin’s stand vital

According to a Reuters report, which quoted some sources in the Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM), no decision had been taken yet on the changes to the Turkish Stream schedule after tension erupted with Turkey. But they are waiting for instructions from President Vladimir Putin.

"We're expecting that the head of state, in all likelihood, could declare a freezing of Turkish Stream, or at least some kind of timeout should be announced," said one Gazprom source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Turkish Stream pipeline is already beset with delays and many have doubts over its viability. Even before the tensions with Ankara, the project had been trailing as the completion date for the first phase has already moved from 2016 to 2017.

For Russia, freezing Turkish stream will not affect its gas exports to Europe. Gazprom is already ahead with the Nord Stream pipeline to connect with Germany despite the opposition from former communist states of eastern Europe.

Another source in Gazprom told Reuters that even if Turkish Stream is not scrapped completely, it might be pushed back by a few years.

Alternative routes

Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said in Brussels that Turkish Stream may be hit by the sanctions announced against Turkey.

“There have been no decisions at this stage on suspending, freezing or ending financing for these projects,” he said.

Gazprom is looking to diversify the routes by which it supplies gas to Europe without using Ukraine as a conduit. Earlier, Russia’s attempt to build a new route to southern Europe fell through after Bulgaria refused transit after coming under pressure from Brussels.

Oil business with ISIS alleged

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused Turkey of shooting down the Russian plane to protect its secret oil trade with the terrorist group ISIS, reports CNN.

"We have recently received additional reports that confirm that oil from ISIL-controlled territories is delivered to the territory of Turkey on an industrial scale," Putin said.

"We have all grounds to suspect that the decision to down our plane was motivated by the intention to secure these routes of delivering oil to ports where it is loaded on tankers," he added.

Reacting to the allegation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would quit if Moscow proved that charge. He said if the allegations are untrue, then Putin should resign.

The two countries hold divergent views about ending the Syrian civil war. While Ankara wants Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to go Russia wants him to continue. Turkey's stand is in sync with the position of the United States, which sees Assad as the central problem in Syrian civil war.

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