Summary
President Vladimir Putin said Russia scrapped a proposed $45 billion Black Sea pipeline to carry gas to Europe, the latest sign economic ties with the EU are breaking down as the Ukraine crisis persists.
In lieu of South Stream, Russia will concentrate on supplying gas to Turkey through a different Black Sea pipeline, Putin said after meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara Monday.
Gazprom had spent 487.5 billion rubles ($9.4 billion) in the last three years on South Stream and upgrading the Russian pipelines that would have supplied it, according to bond filings.
Russia will concentrate on supplying gas to Turkey through the Blue Stream pipeline, increasing deliveries by 3 billion cubic meters a year and offering a 6 percent discount from Jan. 1, Putin said.
In lieu of South Stream, Gazprom and Turkish pipeline company Boru Hatlari Ile Petrol Tasima AS plan to build a pipeline capable of shipping 63 billion cubic meters a year from Russia to Turkey.
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