Vladimir Putin joined Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a ceremony at the Istanbul Congress Centre to mark the completion of the offshore section of the pipeline

The Russian President was received by his Turkish counterpart on Monday to officially inaugurate the TurkStream undersea natural gas pipeline which is expected to bring Russian gas through the Black Sea to Turkey and on to Europe from next year. TurkStream is to give Russia a way to export gas to southern and eastern Europe that avoids going through Ukraine as Moscow has accused the pro-western government in Kiev of stealing natural gas destined for the European Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will participate in an official ceremony on Monday marking the completion of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline. Putin said he believed TurkStream and the Akkuyu nuclear power station would become “clear symbols of the growing development of Russia and Turkey’s multi-faceted partnership.”

The onshore section of the pipeline in Turkey still needs to be built and TurkStream expects the gas to start being pumped at the end of 2019. The pipeline, which has two parts, is expected to carry 31.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Russia to Turkey. It will become an additional guarantee of energy security in Turkey and the countries of southern and southeastern Europe”

As part of the project, construction of the receiving terminal is going on near Kiyikoy.
The 930-kilometre (580 mi) offshore section of the TurkStream gas pipeline, between Russia and Turkey, is completed.