Putin Says Increase Of Gas Supplies To EU Retains Possibility Of Transit Through Ukraine

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that with the growing amount of Russian gas supplies to Europe, it is still possible to continue transit through Ukraine.

"Taking into account the growing volume of our natural gas supplies to Europe, and last year it reached record level of more than 200 billion cubic meters [7 trillion cubic feet] and continues to grow, we will load not only both Nord Streams, not only TurkStream, but with such an amount of supplies to European consumers, there are still opportunities to continue transit through Ukraine," Putin said.

At a joint news conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Thursday, Putin said that the implementation of the TurkStream project is absolutely not hampered by another major Russian project Nord Stream 2.

Putin also noted that Russia's gas giant Gazprom's leadership would discuss a number of issues concerning cooperation in Brussels next week.

The TurkStream pipeline comprises two lines each having the capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters (556.2 billion cubic feet) per year. One line is expected to supply natural gas solely for consumption in Turkey, while the second string will ship gas to southern European countries through Turkey.

Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture of Gazprom and five European companies. It aims to deliver 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) of Russian gas annually to the European Union. The project has been welcomed by some countries in Europe and opposed by others that feel it might increase their dependence on Russia.