South Stream

And everything is being done in accordance with European rules, the head of the state-owned natural gas enterprise remarked.

Bajatovic told Prva TV that the Energy Agency of Serbia has already been asked for permission to build TurkStream through Serbia, and that this project in now before the Energy Community, which has a deadline of 60 days to declare itself on it.

Earlier this week, Kommersant daily cited sources as saying that the Russian gas giant Gazprom announced plans to extend the Turkish Stream pipeline to Bulgaria, then Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia. The Bulgarian and Serbian routes are expected to be put in operation in 2020, followed by Hungary in 2021 and Slovakia in mid-2022, reports Sputnik. 

Russia's energy company Gazprom will extend the TurkStream natural gas pipeline's second string to Bulgaria, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant on Thursday, reported Anadolu Agency

Kommersant claimed that Russian gas would flow from Turkey to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia.

Also, all preparatory procedures have started in these countries, the Russia-based Kommersant writes, according to Sputnik.

As reported, the first gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Serbia will begin in 2020, Russian gas will arrive in Hungary only a year later, which will allow the Russian company to completely shut off supplies via Ukraine by 2022.

 Bulgaria considers the TurkStream gas pipeline as well as other similar projects extremely important for all international actors and is open to talks on becoming part of it, Bulgarian Ambassador to Moscow Atanas Krastin told Sputnik on Wednesday, reports Urdupoint. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin will take a one-day working visit to Turkey on Monday, timed to the completion of construction of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will transport Russian gas to Germany will be completed on time even if new sanctions are imposed on Moscow, Russia's energy minister said on Oct. 9.

Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday he had agreed with Italy's Edison and Greece's state-controlled gas company DEPA to continue work on a pipeline project to ship Russian natural gas into Europe. 

Speaking at an event in Milan, Novak also said that the Turkish Stream Project was on track for first commercial gas at the end of next year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would not want Europe to be weak and not protect its participation in the Nord Stream 2 project, as Bulgaria did with South Stream. This was pointed out at a joint press conference after a conversation with Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz in Moscow.

The TurkStream pipeline, due to supply Russian gas to Turkey via the Black Sea from next year, is already 80 percent complete, the CEO of the Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Aug. 30.