IOL: Putin to inaugurate Turkey pipeline project

IOL: Putin to inaugurate Turkey pipeline project

Putin to inaugurate Turkey pipeline project
Ankara - Russian President Vladimir Putin was to inaugurate a multi-billion dollar pipeline project in Turkey on Thursday, a symbol of the growing economic clout that has made Moscow Turkey's second largest trading partner.Putin will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday near the Black Sea port of Samsun to inaugurate the $3,2-billion (R21-billion) "Blue Stream" natural gas pipeline which runs under the sea to link Turkey with Russia's gas fields. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will also attend the ceremony. Italy's Eni Spa was a key partner in the construction of the pipeline.Including Blue Stream, Russia now supplies 60 percent of Turkey's gas and 20 percent of its oil.
'It is never good to be this dependent on one country'Washington had balked at proposals to build the pipeline and has warned Turkey about its dependence on Russia.But Turkish officials say that in a world of tight gas supplies they have little choice but to increase their dependence on Russia, which has become the world's largest oil exporter."It is never good to be this dependent on one country," said Necdet Pamir, former deputy manager of Turkey's state-run oil and gas exploration company. "We are trying to diversify, but how?"Neighbouring Iran is also a key gas supplier, but increasing dependence on Iran is also politically problematic.The ceremony near Samsun will also highlight the growing business ties between the two countries and their burgeoning political relationship. Erdogan and Putin have met five times since Erdogan came to office and Russia is now Turkey's second largest trade partner.The ceremony will officially inaugurate the pipeline, the world's deepest undersea pipeline, but comes more than two years after gas began to flow.The pipeline and the accompanying gas deals have been plagued with charges of mismanagement and corruption and gas purchases have had to be renegotiated.In May, parliament voted down an opposition motion to censure Energy Minister Hilmi Guler that said that Guler caused billions of dollars of losses by agreeing to pay inflated prices for Russian gas."It was impossible for a long time to have a ceremony," Pamir said. "There was nothing to celebrate." - Sapa-AP

Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-11-16 23:53:15
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