Turkey is trying to press unacceptable terms on Russia's oil pipeline monopoly Transneft in negotiations over the construction of the Samsun–Ceyhan pipeline, Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev said on Friday.
"Turkey is suggesting signing an intergovernmental agreement, which fixes unacceptable economical limits for us. Certainly, we will not agree with it and will start a new round of negotiations from scratch," Tokarev said, adding that Turkey tries to secure unilateral benefits for itself.
In 2009, Russia's top oil firm Rosneft, Transneft, Sovcomflot shipping firm, Turkey's Calik group and Italy's Eni signed an agreement to participate in the Samsun–Ceyhan pipeline project, meant to carry oil from the Turkish port of Samsun on the Black Sea to a Mediterranean terminal in Ceyhan.
Tokarev also said that the parties had reached some agreements in July but Turkey was derailing them.
The Samsun–Ceyhan pipeline, which will transport 60-70 million tonnes of oil per year, is designed to ease the traffic burden in the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.
