Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom has quietly dropped plans to develop a new gas hub in Turkey, effectively closing off a route that had been floated as a way to restore some of its lost access to the European gas market following the invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the project was deemed unviable due to a range of technical, political and commercial challenges, including limited pipeline capacity from Turkey into Europe, disagreements over marketing rights and the European Union’s ongoing efforts to phase out Russian gas by 2027.
The plan was first publicly floated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in October 2022, shortly after the Nord Stream pipelines were damaged in underwater explosions. The proposed Turkish hub was intended to replace those lost connections and serve as a key distribution point for up to 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually.
Although initially welcomed by some Turkish officials, Gazprom gradually pulled back after it became clear that Ankara wanted to control gas sales through the hub, limiting Moscow’s influence. Turkey also lacks the necessary infrastructure to export large volumes of gas into the EU, particularly through Greece and Bulgaria.
While the Kremlin promoted the hub as part of its broader geopolitical energy strategy, the idea reportedly did not originate from Gazprom and was met with skepticism inside the company from the outset. Gazprom executives have now largely ceased internal discussions of the project.
Despite abandoning the hub initiative, Gazprom’s existing energy trade with Turkey remains unaffected. Turkey continues to be one of the company’s largest customers.
The Turkish Energy Ministry and pipeline operator BOTAŞ declined to comment on the project’s fate. However, a Turkish official told Bloomberg that Ankara remains open to cooperation if the plan is revived, though progress has been stalled for some time.