Termination of the contract between Gasprom and the contractor Saipem will not affect the term of construction of the Turkish Stream and is a technical issue, RIA Novosti uoted Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying.
On July 8, 2015 Gasprom said that daughter company of South Stream Transport concern terminated the contract with the Italian Saipem to build the first branch of the Turkish Stream pipeline, because of the “failure to reach the agreement on many working and commercial issues.” It was reported on July 6 that Gasrom decided to suspend expansion of the system of the gas pipelines, which were planned to be used during the Turkish Stream project. This is the matter of freezing of the investment projects for development of the Southern Corridor network, construction of which started in 2010, from July 1, 2015.
It was reported in May that construction of the Turkish Stream on the shallow section will start in the first part of June. All the pipes purchased for the South Stream project will be used for construction of a new gas pipeline.
On May 7, 2015 Gasprom President Aleksei Miller said that the Turkish Stream will be put into operation in December 2016. At the end of April 2015 deputy chairman of Board of Gasprom Alexander Medvedev said that the last fourth branch will be built by 2020.
