Revived Russian-Turkish gas project is less ambitious

Subject The decision to restart the TurkStream natural gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey. Significance The agreement on August 9 between Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resume the TurkStream project relaunches their partnership in the energy sector. This had been frozen as a result of Turkey's shooting down of Russian Su-24 jet last November. Impacts Turkey could start importing up to 15.75 bcm additional natural gas under the Black Sea by 2019. Such a reduced amount compared with the original plan would seem to allow room in the Turkish gas market for rival suppliers. TurkStream could be extended into the EU only if the European Commission and Gazprom compromise on third-party access to the pipeline.

Subject The Russo-Turkish intergovernmental TurkStream agreement. Significance An agreement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 10 envisages a 31.5-billion-cubic-metres/year (bcm/y) natural gas transit line under the Black Sea and through Turkey to the Turkish-Greek border. One of two parallel pipes would supply 15.75 bcm/y gas to Turkey, replacing an existing pipeline. The second would export the same volume to European markets via a planned border 'hub' and export route yet to be announced. Impacts TurkStream's extra volume will increase Turkish dependence on Russian gas but allow more supply flexibility during peak winter demand. Delivering more Russian gas to Central-Eastern Europe will make it more difficult for other potential gas suppliers to secure market share. The agreement will bring Ankara and Moscow closer and may be followed by a new deal to restart the frozen Akkuyu nuclear plant.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Winter 2021) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramazan Erdağ

This article discusses why Russia replaced the South Stream project with the TurkStream by changing its route and name, and why Turkey is involved in a project on the North-South line although it plays a vital role in the Trans-Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project in the southern gas corridor. The article first examines the Russia-Ukraine natural gas crisis. It then moves to analyze the reasons behind Russia’s changing of the name and the route of the South Stream project. After exploring Turkey’s involvement in the project, the article concludes by arguing that both countries adopted a win-win approach toward the project that Russia has gained a significant tariff advantage and freedom from the EU third-party-access rule. The article claims that although both Russia and Turkey have different perspectives on some issues in international politics, they can develop their cooperation with a win-win approach in the TurkStream project.


Author(s):  
V. Ozdemir ◽  
I. A. Guliyev

The article deals with current issues of energy diplomacy of Turkey. The authors describe the main positive and negative results of Turkey's foreign energy policy in terms of the implementation of major energy projects. Geopolitical processes in the world, the conflict of interests of various countries in the political arena are important factors that affect the crude oil and natural gas pipeline projects. Particular attention is paid to the problems and prospects of cooperation between the Turkish Republic and the Russian Federation in the fuel and energy complex. The authors describe the interaction betweeen Russia and Turkey in the energy sector, including geo-economic interests of the countries in the Russian-Turkish gas dialogue. Turkey made efforts to position as an alternative gas supply route, taking advantage of concern about increasing Europe's dependence on Russian exports. Last years Turkey has set itself the important task - to turn from transit country into a regional gas hub. Ukrainian crisis increased the geostrategic importance of the Black Sea region to Russia, as well as strengthened the ambition of the Turkish side. The authors also highlight the prospects of the natural gas pipeline project from Russia via the Black Sea to Turkey and to the Turkish-Greek border, which named "Turkish stream". This project was frozen in terms of military and political processes at the end of 2015 in Syria.


Subject Revived plans to transit Russian gas through Bulgaria into Europe and build a nuclear plant at Belene. Significance Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in extending the TurkStream natural gas pipeline into the EU and is counting on the European Commission and member states to show the same flexibility already seen in the case of Nord Stream. Although the EU-sponsored Southern Gas Corridor is boosting Gazprom’s competitors, Russia could gain advantage by accessing the new transit infrastructure. Impacts Ties to Russia will once again become a hot issue in Bulgarian domestic politics. New transit routes would bring down gas prices and boost consumption by industry and households across South-eastern Europe. High costs and political risk will limit the development of nuclear energy in Bulgaria and the region.


Significance Leading politicians have called for the cancellation for the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, while NATO and the EU are considering fresh sanctions on Russian individuals in the military and intelligence services. Impacts Germany will likely increase its capacity for importing US LNG, focusing on the Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuettel terminals in the north-west. Russia's questioning of Germany's investigation of the poisoning will make Berlin more vigilant over Russian disinformation efforts. Continuing to 'work' with Russia could undermine German credibility in Poland, the Baltic states and Ukraine.


Author(s):  
Cheng Yong Lau

Objective The paper aims to synthesis the impacts of Crimea's annexation into Russia on EU's energy diversification strategy, as well as the natural gas pipelines competitions in the Black Sea basin. Methodology/Technique Based on secondary documentary research method, more than 10 in press articles and journals in the related studies field are found, then synchronizing their findings into comprehensive paragraphs. Findings Firstly, the annexation of Crimea is an additional value to Russia's from the perspectives of economics, and military strength. Secondly, South stream pipeline would remain as one of the biggest competitors for EU after this annexation process; also EU would need to rectify its threat and so to diversify their natural gas market in order to avoid over-dependent on Russian's gas. Finally, Russia in this case would become a dominant gas player after this Crimea's annexation. Novelty : Although there are many studies addressing this topic, most of them just address part of the issue. This paper, based on the latest extensive findings from previous research in press articles, reviews, journals, and case studies, give readers a holistic view of the Crimea's annexation into Russia. Type of Paper: Review Keywords: European Union (EU); Energy Economics; Crimea; Black Sea; Diversification Strategy; Russia; Pipelines; Natural Gas; Geopolitics


Significance Since joining the EU in 2007, Bulgaria has touted its role as an advocate for further enlargement. In reality, its contribution to the Union’s policy in the Western Balkans or the Black Sea has been meagre. Impacts The Commission may partly fund cross-border projects advanced by member states in South-eastern Europe, but implementation will be slow. Bulgaria is pitching to abolish roaming charges within the Western Balkans as well as between the region and the EU. The EU-Turkey summit in Varna could be called off at the last minute because of rows with EU member states, notably Cyprus.


Significance With TurkStream, Russia has opened a new export route to the EU through South-eastern Europe under the Black Sea: Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia are receiving Russian gas through Turkey. Russian gas giant Gazprom is now less dependent on transit through Ukraine, although the larger Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic is being delayed and the Ukrainian route will continue serving Central Europe for the time being. Impacts Plans for a floating storage regasification unit at Alexandroupolis in north-eastern Greece will make headway. Access to LNG will give customers leverage over Gazprom when long-term supply contracts are renegotiated in the 2020s. As TurkStream brings not new but rerouted gas (except for new customers) it will not raise dependence on Russia.


Kybernetes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 1664-1686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cihan Çetinkaya ◽  
Mehmet Kabak ◽  
Mehmet Erbaş ◽  
Eren Özceylan

Purpose The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential geographic locations for ecotourism activities and to select the best one among alternatives. Design/methodology/approach The proposed model consists of four sequential phases. In the first phase, different geographic criteria are determined based on existing literature, and data are gathered using GIS. On equal criteria weighing, alternative locations are determined using GIS in the second phase. In the third phase, the identified criteria are weighted using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) by various stakeholders of potential ecotourism sites. In the fourth phase, the PROMETHEE method is applied to determine the best alternative based on the weighted criteria. Findings A framework including four sequential steps is proposed. Using real data from the Black Sea region in Turkey, the authors test the applicability of the evaluation approach and compare the best alternative obtained by the proposed method for nine cities in the region. Consequently, west of Sinop, east of Artvin and south of the Black Sea region are determined as very suitable locations for ecotourism. Research limitations/implications The first limitation of the study is considered the number of included criteria. Another limitation is the use of deterministic parameters that do not cope with uncertainty. Further research can be conducted for determining the optimum locations for different types of tourism, e.g. religion tourism, hunting tourism and golf tourism, for effective tourism planning. Practical implications The proposed approach can be applied to all area that cover the considered criteria. The approach has been tested in the Black Sea region (nine cities) in Turkey. Social implications Using the proposed approach, decision-makers can determine locations where environmentally responsible travel to natural areas to enjoy and appreciate nature that promotes conservation have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socioeconomic involvement of local individuals. Originality/value To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study which applies a GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making approach for ecotourism site selection.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document