Putin to Erdogan: Everything happens to you faster

"With Turkey, our projects are developing as they do not develop with many other partners, and for things that we need for years with different administrative arrangements, we only need Turkey for a few months."

This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation with Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan. During the conversation, Putin was on the Pioneering Spirit, the Pioneer Spirit, which laid the pipes for the Turkish Stream pipeline.

Russia negotiates with Bulgaria for "Turkish Stream"

Gazprom started construction of "Turkish stream"

Putin landed on the ship this afternoon with his presidential helicopter. He was there to observe the docking of the shallow water with the deepwater part of the future gas pipeline. In his conversation with Erdogan, Putin pointed out that the final agreement on the construction of the pipeline that will transfer Russian gas to Turkey was concluded in the autumn of 2016. "Just over seven months later, work has already begun," the Russian president said. Russia headed for the construction of "Turkish Stream" after the end of 2014. Putin canceled the South Stream gas pipeline project to Bulgaria. The reason for this was the incompatibility of the project with the rules of the European Union. At the moment Gazprom's intentions are to export blue fuel to southern and south-eastern Europe through the Turkish stream. However, the question of transit countries remains. It is possible for a branch of the pipeline to pass through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. The other option is to do this through Greece and Italy. In his conversation with Erdogan, Putin has pointed out that there are further questions to clarify about "Turkish Stream" related to environmental safety and the exact location of the tube's exit on Turkish territory. Another topic of the conversation between the two was the construction of the Turkish Akkuy NPP in time. The agreement between Russia and Turkey on co-operation in the construction and operation of the nuclear power plant is from 2010, and the plant must be licensed next year.