After Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it had suspended gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine, European countries were left with only one pipeline through which they could buy Russian gas, TurkStream.
TurkStream is a gas pipeline that runs from Russia to Turkey. It starts at the Russkaya compressor station near Anapa in Russia’s Krasnodar region, passes through the Black Sea to the receiving terminal in Kiyikoy in northwestern Turkey.
The pipeline consists of two 930-kilometer-long branches, which run from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea, and separate onshore branches, 142 and 70 kilometers long.
The first branch, with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters, is intended to supply domestic customers in Turkey, while the second, with a further 15.75 billion cubic meters, transports Russian gas further to southeastern and central Europe.
TurkStream was officially opened on January 8, 2020, and its construction began in May 2017.
Hungary and Croatia have been receiving Russian natural gas via the TurkStream pipeline since 2021 and further via the national gas transmission systems of Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary, which make up the Balkan Stream pipeline.
– Gas deliveries via Ukraine suspended –
Gazprom announced on Wednesday that natural gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine had been suspended.
“Due to the repeated and explicit refusal of the Ukrainian side to extend the agreements, Gazprom is deprived of the technical and legal possibility to deliver gas via the territory of Ukraine starting from January 1, 2025,” Gazprom said in a statement on Telegram.
It was noted that the contracts signed on December 30, 2019 between Gazprom and the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz for the transportation of Russian gas through Ukraine have expired, AA writes.
