Ankara and Moscow are nearing a consensus on establishing a gas hub in the Thrace region, aiming to position Türkiye as a pivotal gas supplier to Europe and facilitate energy exports for producing nations.

The proposal to set up a hub in Türkiye was floated by President Vladimir Putin last year to replace Russia’s lost sales to Europe. At the same time, Ankara has long desired to function as an exchange for energy-starved countries.

The plan came shortly after explosions damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. It remains unclear who was responsible for the blasts.

Ongoing efforts to identify suitable land in Thrace suggest that the hub could potentially be operational by 2024, according to a report in Sabah on Monday.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak arrived in Türkiye on Friday and discussed the project with his Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar on the sidelines of the Turkish-Russian Joint Economic Commission meeting.

Novak expressed confidence in reaching an agreement on the hub’s creation in the near future. He said Russia’s Gazprom and Türkiye’s BOTAŞ were cooperating closely and had been discussing the project road map.

"I am sure that agreements on the practical implementation of this project will be reached in the near future," Novak said in an interview with the TV channel Rossiya 24.

Discussions have not advanced much over recent months, as Türkiye suffered devastating earthquakes in February and focused on elections in May.

Türkiye already boasts an extensive infrastructure featuring natural gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, floating storage regasification units, natural gas storage facilities and a gas exchange market.

Ankara believes it can leverage its existing and new trade relations to become a gas hub.

Bayraktar, in mid-September, said Türkiye plans to expand its gas infrastructure further as it lays the groundwork to establish the gas exchange from which countries in southeast Europe can source gas.

The expansion plans cover infrastructure in northwest Türkiye’s Thrace region, connecting LNG gasification terminals and an upgraded storage facility in Silivri.

Gas coming from Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia through pipelines could also feed into this hub and be priced in a local gas exchange, Bayraktar said.

Moscow currently supplies gas to Türkiye via the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines across the Black Sea. Gas via TurkStream also goes for further exports to southern and eastern Europe, including Hungary, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania and Serbia.

Türkiye has said it would also be possible to include the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which carries Azeri natural gas to the Turkish border, into the proposed hub.

Russia supplies pipeline gas to Europe mainly via Ukraine at over 40 million cubic meters per day, less than half the amount it used to sell to the European Union before the Ukraine conflict via that route.

Türkiye is pushing its own gas exporting agenda: BOTAŞ, in August, struck an agreement with Hungary’s MVM to sell about 300 million cubic meters of gas. That marks the first time Türkiye has agreed to gas exports with a non-neighboring country, indicating its willingness to boost the security of the European energy supply.

Putin said in July that the gas hub was still on the agenda, and Russia wanted to set up an electronic platform for gas sales in Türkiye.

Novak emphasized the close collaboration between Russian and Turkish companies on the initiative. He disclosed that the Turkish delegation plans to visit St. Petersburg, indicating that agreements related to the practical implementation of the project are on the horizon.

In his address at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum earlier this month, Bayraktar affirmed ongoing discussions with Gazprom.

"We are discussing establishing an electronic trade platform, especially with Gazprom and our partners in this project. I believe this will not take a very long time. I hope that we will have established this trading platform within approximately a year," Bayraktar said.