Russian energy minister: two licences needed for TurkStream project

Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak leaves the European Commission headquarters in Brussels after a meeting with EU officials March 2, 2015. REUTERS/Eric Vidal

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Russia requires construction licences for at least two lines of the proposed TurkStream pipeline project, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday. "One will be for Turkey and one for Europe," Novak told reporters on the sidelines of a G20 energy ministers' meeting in Istanbul. The Kremlin said last month that discussions about TurkStream - supposed to bring 63 billion cubic metres of gas a year to Turkey and southern Europe via Greece - had been slowed due to Turkey's Nov. 1 parliamentary election. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Dale Hudson)