OREANDA-NEWS. Moldova is discussing with Gazprom the possibility of supplying gas through the Turkish Stream in order to provide an alternative to the pipeline that runs through Ukraine. This was announced during a briefing on Tuesday by the Minister of Economy and Infrastructure of the Republic Vadim Brynzan.

“We are negotiating with partners from the Russian Federation, namely Gazprom, about the possibility of gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova via the southern route, through the so-called Turkish Stream”, the minister said. At the end of 2019, a contract for the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine expires. Gazprom is the only gas supplier to Moldova. In 2018, a Russian company exported 2.9 billion cubic meters to the republic meter of gas, which is 8.4% more than in 2017.

The capacity of the pipeline will be 31.5 billion cubic meters. m of gas per year. A 930 km long pipeline runs along the bottom of the Black Sea from Russia to the Turkish coast. Next, a land transit line will be laid to the border of Turkey with neighboring countries with a length of 180 km.

The capacity of each string is 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The first gas deliveries are planned for the end of 2019. As potential markets, Gazprom considers Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. The Russian company estimates the total budget for the construction of the "Turkish Stream" gas pipeline at 7 billion euros. The construction of the offshore section of the pipeline is handled by South Stream Transport B.V.

Earlier, the media reported with reference to the Bulgarian authorities that Gazprom intends to refuse gas supplies through the Trans-Balkan corridor from Ukraine to Turkey from January 2020. At present, Bulgaria and Serbia are expanding the gas transmission system for gas from the second line of the "Turkish Stream".