From South Stream to Turkish Stream: Underlying Reasons and Consequences of Transformation

Author(s): Natalia Ulchenko
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 163
Pages: 7-10
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2015

The decision to halt South Stream, and reconfigure the project as Turkish Stream came as a surprise to many, and, indeed, the current geopolitical context makes reaching forecasts about the future development of largescale energy projects almost impossible to make with any certainty. Keeping this in mind, this article lays out some thoughts on why Russian-EU negotiations on South Stream stalled, and the prospects for the future development and fulfillment of Turkish Stream. It suggests that the realization of Turkish Stream remains uncertain, and that its future will largely be determined by the wider context of development in Russia-Turkey, Turkey-EU and Russia-EU relations.

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