ANKARA: Turkish officials told Reuters that Gazprom and Turkey are “likely to finalise a deal on natural gas prices by mid-July.”
Russia’s big plan to build the Turkish Stream might have hit a snag as Russia and Turkey can’t agree on gas prices.
Russia’s Gazprom and Turkey’s BOTAŞ had a six-month period to agree on the prices for gas supplies. That time frame expired on Monday without a deal.
“The dispute over prices means there’s no immediate prospect of signing a binding pact for the new pipeline … An agreement could now be delayed until at least October,” people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.
Back in May, Russia gave permission to commence the construction of the pipeline, although it had “not yet signed intergovernmental agreements with Turkey and Greece, and [was] acting on the basis of old documents relation to the South Stream project,” according to RBTH.
One anonymous source told Bloomberg that the deal was delayed in part because the ruling party in Turkey lost its parliamentary majority in last month’s election. Prior to it, Gazprom and Turkey’s officials reportedly “said they had agreed on pricing.”
