Russia's Gazprom submits gas hub concept to Türkiye

The Russian company Gazprom has submitted to the Turkish side a concept for creating a gas hub, which formulates the parameters and principles of its operation, according to the annual report of the corporation.

"Since October 2022, PJSC Gazprom jointly with its Turkish partners has been working on the issue of creating a gas hub in Türkiye. The Russian side has presented its concept of creating a gas hub, parameters and principles of its operation," Gazprom's annual report reads, excerpts from the document are quoted by Interfax.

The project of creating a new gas cluster is being prepared by Gazprom and Turkish Botas in the shortest timeframe possible. According to Ankara, the hub will be created in Rumelia (Thrace) near Türkiye's borders with Greece and Bulgaria.

In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the initiative to lay additional gas pipelines from the Russian Federation to Türkiye along the bottom of the Black Sea, as well as to create a gas hub on the EU border, which could become an alternative to other centres for determining the price of gas in Europe.

Türkiye is home to seven international natural gas pipelines and one of the ways Russian gas reaches Europe is through the dual TurkStream natural gas pipeline. With a total capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters (bcm), each line has an annual capacity of 15.75 bcm.

The European Union, which previously turned to Russia for about 40 per cent of its gas needs, is seeking to wean itself off Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.