Russia expects to sign an intergovernmental gas pipeline agreement with Turkey in the second quarter of 2015 in order to start the first gas deliveries in December 2016, Russian energy company Gazprom announced on Tuesday.

      “Together with Turkey we agreed to organize our work so that an intergovernmental agreement on the pipeline is signed in the second quarter of the current year, with first gas arriving to Turkey in December 2016,” Gazprom said in a statement.

      The first leg of the new pipeline is expected to deliver 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas exclusively for the Turkish market, Gazprom added.

      On December 1, 2014, Gazprom and the Turkish pipeline corporation Botas signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a Black Sea gas pipeline to Turkey with an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters. According to Gazprom, the both sides are now working on a schedule of the main events for the construction of the pipeline to Turkey.

      The agreement with Turkey took place soon after Russia had been forced to abandon the 'South Stream' gas pipeline construction because of western sanctions and non-cooperation from some Eastern Europe nations.