Turkey PM to discuss S Stream, Blue Stream-2 projects.

MOSCOW, January 12 (Itar-Tass) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan arrives here on Tuesday for a two-day working visit. On January 13
he is scheduled to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin.

The upcoming talks are expected to deal primarily
with the construction of a South Stream and a Blue Stream-2 gas pipelines.
A Russian government official said, "During the talks, the Premiers
will touch upon a broad spectrum of matters concerning Russo-Turkish
interaction". In particular, in the light of the accords that were reached
as a result of Putin's working visit to Turkey on August 6, 2009, "it is
planned to discuss subjects related to the implementation pf large-scale
international projects for the transportation of energy resources."
The Russian side expects that Turkey, which also supports the rival
project Nabucco, in 2010 will make a final choice in favour of the South
Stream, the construction of which may begin as early as in November this
year.
The South Stream is a joint project of Gazprom and the Italian oil and
gas company ENI. The project envisages the supply of Russian gas and,
possibly, Central Asian one, to Europe across the Black Sea. An
appropriate memorandum was signed in Rome on June 23, 2007, and two
supplements to it were signed later on, on November 22, 2007, and on May
15, 2009.
The overland part of the gas pipeline on the territory of the Russian
Federation will run from the Pochinki compressor station on the gas
transportation system of the Uzhgorod corridor to the Beregovaya (coastal)
compressor station located not far from Arkhipo-Osipovka township on the
Black Sea coast (the Blue Stream gas pipeline also originates at
Beregovaya).
The maritime part of the gas pipeline will run from Beregovaya to the
Bulgarian city of Varna. Its length will be 900 kilometres and maximum
depth -- 2,000 metres. Farther on, an overland part of the gas pipeline
will consist of two branches. The projected carrying capacity of the gas
pipeline will be 30,000-63,000 million cubic metres of gas a year. The
pipeline's cost will be approximately 8,600 million euros. The pipeline is
to be put into operation before December 31, 2015.
The plan for the implementation of the South Stream project envisions
the preparation of an overall feasibility report in 2010. The feasibility
reports is being worked out in conjunction with all the countries
participating in the South Stream project, among them Italy, Bulgaria,
Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, and Romania. France, represented by the
EDF Company, also joined the project recently.
As far as the Blue Stream-2 project is concerned, Putin and Erdogan
reached agreement on implementing it during their meeting in Sochi on
May16, 2009. However, the sides are yet to determine technical
characteristics, a route, and cost of the pipeline transportation system.
It is not ruled out that the second line of the Blue Stream will also
reach out to Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, which will render Turkey
to be a major transiter country in the region.
Besides, the countries agreed jointly to work on a project to build a
Samsung-Ceyhan oil pipeline. However, cooperation in the energy sector is
not limited to the oil and gas sphere. In particular, a Russo-Turkish
consortium will set about building Turkey's first nuclear power station,
which may be put into operation as early as 2012.
The January13 talks between Putin and Erdogan will be their tenth
personal meeting. The Turkish Premier also met with Medvedev repeatedly,
including meetings within the framework of the G-20 summits in London and
Pittsburg. They first met after the August 2008 events. At that time,
Erdogan suggested the idea of establishing a Platform of Stability and
Cooperation in the Caucasus, similar to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe.

.Health Resorts and Tourism exhibition to begin in Sochi.

SOCHI, January 12 (Itar-Tass) - The XVI international Health Resorts
and Tourism - 2010 exhibition begins here on Tuesday. This large-scale
forum featuring the services of tour operators and accommodation resources
will sort of usher in a tourist season in southern Russia, exhibition
organizers have told Itar-Tass.
The forum has been organized under the auspices of the Federal Agency
for Tourism, the Russian Union of the Travel Industry and with the support
of the administrations of the Krasnodar Territory and the city of Sochi.
An official at the SOUD-Sochi Exhibitions Company has pointed out,
"Southern Russia constitutes a rare blend of the geographical position,
natural and water wealth, historico- cultural heritage, active recreation
opportunities, cognitive tourism, and pleasant services that attract
guests from Russia and foreign countries".
More than 380 companies of the sanatorium and health resort sector
from the constituent territories and republics of the Southern Federal
District, including Kalmykia, Central Russia, as well as Greece, Turkey,
Italy, Hungary, Ukraine, and Abkhazia, are among exhibitors at the
exhibition in Sochi.
The business programme of the exhibition provides for roundtable
meetings and presentations of the health resorts of Sochi, Anapa,
Gelendzhik, and Tuapse. The exhibition will run till January 14.
-0-pop


Delete & Prev | Delete & Next
Move to: