Gas purchases by Romania from Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom soared by 740 percent in 2016 in a year-on-year comparison, to 1.48 bln cubic meters, a press release informs, tass.com informs on Wednesday.
According to Gazprom, the consumption of Russian gas among potential importers of gas, that will be supplied via the Turkish Stream pipeline to South Eastern Europe, has grown significantly last year.
“The growing demand for Russian gas in Southeast Europe, which is the target region for the Turkish Stream pipeline clearly shows that the project is well-considered and timely step, important for meeting energy needs of these countries,” the gas giant said in the statement
In comparison with 2015, volumes of gas purchases grew in particular in Italy by 1.1 percent to 24.7 bln cubic meters, in Bulgaria by 2.1 percent to 3.18 bln cubic meters, in Greece by 35 percent to 2.68 bln cubic meters, in Serbia by 4.3 percent to 1.75 bln cubic meters, in Croatia by 54.8 percent to 0.76 bln cubic meters, Macedonia – by 56.5 percent to 0.21 bln cubic meters.
According to these figures, the largest percentage increase was recorded in Romania, even though the volume of purchased gas from Gazprom in 2016 by Romania was lower than that acquired by Serbia.
The Russian authorities announced the Turkish Stream in December 2014 to replace the South Stream gas pipeline project. It was planned that the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline would comprise four stretches with a capacity of 15.75 bln cubic meters each.