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Russia, Turkey in South Stream tug of war

Date: 24-03-2011

Upset by Turkish procrastination over the offshore section of the South Stream pipeline, Russia is warning that it may give up on the project altogether. But experts said Moscow could not afford to lose face over what is seen as the biggest political pipeline project of modern times. Russia is considering the possibility of abandoning the South Stream gas pipeline project, which is designed to bring Russian gas to Europe by bypassing Ukraine, the Russian press writes today (17 March), quoting top officials in Moscow.

Talks held in Moscow last Wednesday (16 March) between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ended with no agreement on building a crucial offshore section of South Stream in Turkish territorial waters . Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said the Turkish authorities had been expected to approve the construction on 31 October 2010.In the absence an agreement, Gazprom and the Russian government are currently studying various options for a "cheaper version" of South Stream, Sechin said, including replacing the pipeline with a project based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), to be transported by ship across the Black Sea.

more here http://www.actmedia.eu/2011/03/24/top+s ... +war/32782

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