The launch of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline will lead to an almost complete stoppage of gas transit through Ukraine southward to Turkey and to a decrease in transit revenue for Ukraine, said Sergey Makogon, deputy director general of the strategy and business development department of the Ukrainian GTS Operator company. According to him, even greater risks associated with the launch of the Turkish Stream arise for Moldova and the countries of Southern Europe, which have not yet managed to prepare their gas transmission systems for this.“Unfortunately, the Turkish Stream is becoming an objective reality … For Ukraine, the implementation of this project will lead to an almost complete stop of transit in the southern direction to Turkey and, consequently, to a decrease in transit revenue. But significantly greater risks arise for the countries of Southern Europe and Moldova, which historically received gas through Ukraine, and the new gas pipelines are not yet ready, ”Macogon wrote on his Facebook page.He stressed that in this situation Ukraine should look for ways to use the existing infrastructure of the gas transportation system in a new reality.As previously reported, since July 1, Ukrtransgaz transferred the function of technical operation of the gas transmission system (GTS) of Ukraine to the subsidiary company Operator of the GTS of Ukraine.Turkish Stream is a project for a transit-free export gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea and further to the Turkish border with neighboring countries. The first line of the gas pipeline will be intended for the Turkish market, the second – for gas supply to the countries of Southern and Southeast Europe. The capacity of each string is 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year. On November 19, 2018, Gazprom completed the construction of the offshore section of the gas pipeline.
