Ukraine mulls transferring natural gas via Turkish straits to bypass Moscow

Ukrainian companies are in talks with their Turkish counterparts over how to transfer LNG through Turkish straits to bypass Russia, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Turkey, Sergiy Korsunsky, has said answering Hurriyet reporter İpek Yezdani’s questions following a roundtable discussion organized at Kadir Has University in Istanbul.

“One will be responsible for transit and the other will be for storage. That’s exactly what the EU demanded from us so that there will be no monopolies,” he said. 

Korsunsky said first of all they have to diversify the sources of gas.

“If you look at the map, the only viable way to do it is through the Black Sea. That’s why the idea to build an energy terminal in Odessa was put on the agenda. We understood at the very beginning that it is not easy; it is quite a costly project, and we will need to talk to Turkey about the Bosphorus. But formally, by the Montreux Convention, Turkey cannot stop it,” he said. 

Korsunsky said private businesses in Ukraine were currently talking to private businesses in Turkey about possible routes.

“Is it that dangerous? Is it that problematic to organize this? We understand the concern because we were speaking unofficially to government officials, and we were told about serious concerns about possible accidents. We will try to continue these discussions; we will try to find common ground. Maybe we will try to find a common project to do that. But definitely this is high on the agenda of the [Ukrainian] prime minister,” he said....................http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ukraine-mulls-transferring-natural-gas-via-turkish-straits-to-bypass-moscow.aspx?pageID=238&nID=67581&NewsCatID=348
10/6/14