Russia redirects all South Stream pipes to Turkey-bound gas pipeline

"The South Steam's infrastructure in Russian territory is absolutely adjustable to the plan of a pipeline to Turkey, Shabalov said. "The Turkish route will entail no losses for Gazprom or for the pipe manufacturers." "If a new contract for supplying 63 billion cubic meters of gas a year to Turkey is concluded, that means that the Russian corridor and the Russian stretch of this project will be absolutely identical to South Stream's. The latter's estimated throughput was exactly 63 bcm. From that standpoint no changes in the amount of supplies are due," Shabalov said. "Russia's section of South Stream will continue to be laid at the original pace. Possibly, it may even be finalized a little bit faster than Turkey would be prepared for - six to twelve months sooner. We see no reason for a pause. In practice such projects have never been stopped," Shabalov said. For laying the seabed stretch of the South Stream pipeline under the Black Sea the United Metal Company was to provide 450,000 tons of pipes €630 million worth, and the Izhora Pipe Mill, 260,000 tons €350 million worth. Since 2011 Gazprom has spent $4.6 billion on the South Stream project. The Turkish alternative provides for the export of the very same 63 billion cubic meters of gas. The pipeline's starting point remains unchanged - the Russkaya compressor station in the Anapa district of the Krasnodar Territory. The pipeline's route will run towards the border with Turkey and Greece in bypass of Bulgaria, with Southern Europe being its ultimate destination.