The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) welcomes the signing of an agreement on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project by Moscow and Ankara, the NIGC's spokesman Majid Boujarzadeh said Tuesday.
ISTANBUL (Sputnik) On Monday, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement onthe gas pipeline, which envisions the construction oftwo underwater legs inthe Black Sea, withthe annual capacity of15.75 billion cubic meters each.
"We are glad that Turkey signed an agreement onthe Turkish Stream withRussia, because Turkey needs a lot ofenergy.
It does not mater, who delivers gas, Russia or Iran, it is important toprotect environment duringsuch deliveries," Boujarzadeh told RIA Novosti.
He added that Iran also had good prospects forcooperation withRussia inthe sphere ofgas exports. The Turkish Stream project aimed atdelivering Russia's natural gas toTurkey and parts ofEurope was announced inlate 2014 byRussian President Vladimir Putin onhis state visit toTurkey. In November 2015, the project was suspended aftera Russian Su-24 aircraft was downed bya Turkish F-16 fighter inSyria. In June, followingTurkey's apology toRussia forthe November incident, the sides began a reconciliation process. According tothe agreement, Russia's energy giant Gazprom will own rights forboth underwater legs ofthe pipeline, while the land stretch ofthe first leg will be owned bythe Turkish customers and the land stretch ofthe second leg will be controlled bya joint venture.