The construction will start once the Turkish parliament approves a supplement to the Russian-Turkish intergovernmental agreement on the project. That stretch will be 360-kilometers long. Nearly 16 billion cubic meters a year is to reach Turkey through the 1,200-kilometer long pipeline. The construction is being handled by the Russian Stroitransgaz company. Italy's ENI will share in the construction of the underwater stretch.
Turkey is the fourth largest purchaser of Russian gas.
In 2000 it imported 10.2 billion cubic meters.