Russia's plans to significantly grow its gas export capacity to Europe through the expansion of the Nord Stream pipeline and the construction of the TurkStream link are facing an increasingly uncertain future, with energy minister Alexander Novak on Thursday forced to address issues facing both projects.
Speaking in Moscow, Novak slammed a recent letter of opposition to Nord Stream 2 signed by energy ministers from seven eastern European countries and also confirmed speculation that talks between Moscow and Ankara over the planned TurkStream pipeline were now frozen.
The two projects are part of Russia's long-held ambition to build enough export capacity to Europe to be able to bypass Ukraine's transit network entirely.
On November 30, ministers from seven EU countries sent a joint letter to the European Commission to stress that Russia's plans to double the size of the 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream link to Germany to 110 Bcm/year could weaken the EU's overall security of supply, with central and eastern Europe most at risk.
Novak, however, said the opposition was purely political and did not take economic reality into account.
"Those letters are of a political nature," Novak was quoted as saying Thursday by the Prime news agency.
"From an economic perspective, decisions [on Nord Stream 2] will be taken in line with legislation. Nord Stream 2 will be carried out in line with existing legislation. Nobody expects to breach or bypass it," he said.
In the letter, ministers from Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia said the Nord Stream 2 plans would see "practically the entire volume of Russian gas imports" entering the EU in northeast Germany.
If nearly all the Russian gas arrived in Germany, the EU would have to upgrade its grid to enable gas to flow west to east to the central, eastern and southern countries currently supplied via Ukraine.
The European Commission, too, has also said it would find it difficult to support Nord Stream 2 on anti-competition grounds.
TURKEY TALKS
Novak, meanwhile, also said the intergovernmental talks on TurkStream between Russia and Turkey have been halted.
It follows heightened tensions between the two countries after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet in late November.
Russia had already said that TurkStream's planned capacity would be just 32 Bcm/year, down from the original plan for 63 Bcm/year, while Turkey has still not approved the project at governmental level.
Talks between Moscow and Ankara over the future of TurkStream -- which was envisaged as a replacement for the now defunct South Stream gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to southeast Europe bypassing Ukraine --- were due to take place in December.
"Currently, the talks [on TurkStream] have been suspended as the work of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation is halted, in line with a governmental decision," Novak said.
Murat Mercan, founding member of Turkey's ruling AKP party and former Turkish deputy energy minister, said last month that negotiations on the pipeline would likely continue for several years and that Turkey would consider both strategic and economic factors before committing to the project.
For Russia, its two main projects for bypassing Ukraine are both now facing increasingly difficult times.
