The Italian Eni group is not interested in implementing the gas pipeline project Turkish Stream, the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, Claudio Descalzi, told reporters, when asked by TASS.
‘No, we are not interested. We transport our gas and do not make investments in transport infrastructure, which is not intended for our gas,’ he said.
According to Descalzi, from the moment when Eni was the main partner of Gazprom in the project pipeline South Stream, the company’s strategy has changed.
‘We are not a shipping company and we do not transport others’ gas and oil any longer. Then there were other times, things have changed and the market has changed, and the strategic objectives and the conditions of long-term contracts have changed, too,’ said Descalzi.
In 2008 Eni and Gazprom registered the company South Stream AG (Switzerland) for the construction of the offshore section of the gas pipeline South Stream, which was supposed to run under the Black Sea. Subsequently, the project was joined by the French EdF and Germany’s Wintershall. According to the final version of the project, the start of the pipeline construction was scheduled for the end of 2012, and the first gas deliveries were expected at the end of 2015. However, on December 1, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in the conditions of strained relations with Europe, Russia will not implement the South Stream project and will focus on an alternative project, Turkish Stream.
