Russian gas firm's head says they will decide on procedure of gas supply to Turkey with Turkish executives

ANKARA (A.A) - November 16, 2011 - The head of Russia's Gazprom Export said on Wednesday that company executives and Turkish authorities would decide later in November what kind of a procedure would be followed in exporting natural gas to Turkey as of January 1, 2012. Alexander Medvedev, the director general of Gazprom Export and deputy chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee, said that Turkey needed Russian natural gas. "We will decide on the procedure to be applied to Turkey regarding gas sale as of January 1, 2012 during our meeting with Turkish executives in November," Medvedev told Gas&Power magazine. The meeting is expected to take place in Istanbul next week.  Medvedev said Russian Federation was the first and only country backing liberalization of natural gas market in Turkey and expressed hope that Turkey would create a market that would enable sale of natural gas in the most reasonable price in coming days. The head of the company said a market in which natural gas prices were not subsidized would contribute more to Turkish economy. Medvedev said the company was ready to enter Turkish electricity market as not only a supplier but also an investor. Alexander Medvedev said he did not see Nabucco, a proposed pipeline that will carry natural gas from the Caspian region and the Caucasus to Europe, as a rival project, adding that Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) would be a good partner to South Stream Project if Turkey showed interest in the project. South Stream is a proposed pipeline project routed from Russia to Bulgaria and further to Italy and Austria through Turkish waters in the Black Sea.