TurkStream natural gas pipeline marks on Friday the first anniversary of its official launch ceremony by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul, the project company TurkStream said in a statement on late Friday.
'TurkStream reliably transports Russian gas across the Black Sea to consumers in Turkey and already six European countries: Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,' Alexey Miller, chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Since the start of TurkStream's operation, Gazprom has increased the throughput of the pipeline by 2.2 times, while the volumes destined for European consumers has grown 2.5 times, according to Miller.
Furthermore, Turkey, Greece and North Macedonia increased their gas purchases from Gazprom in 2020, he added.
The project was spearheaded by Russia in December 2014 when Putin announced the project launch. The energy ministers of Russia and Turkey signed the intergovernmental agreement for the pipeline project on Oct. 10, 2016.
Commercial gas supplies through the gas pipeline started on Jan. 1, 2020. Erdogan and Putin presided over the opening ceremony on Jan. 8 in Istanbul with the attendance of high-ranking energy ministers from both countries.
TurkStream consists of two 930-kilometer-long offshore lines stretching from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea, and two separate onshore lines with 142 and 70 kilometer-long.
The project has a total capacity of 31.5 bcm. The first line with a capacity of 15.75 bcm is designated for supplies to Turkey's domestic customers, and the second line, with another 15.75 bcm capacity, carries Russian gas further to Europe through Bulgaria.
By Busranur Begcecanli
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr