Russian officials met with their Turkish counterparts in Moscow to discuss the construction of the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline on January 13, according to R.F. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin. Russia expects to be actively involved in the project. The ownership share that Russia will have in the venture has not yet been agreed upon.

The Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked about the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline with Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi during a video conference in October of last year. The project will involve Italian company ENI, Turkish company Calik Holding, Russia’s Rosneft, as well as several partner-companies from Kazakhstan.

In August of 2009, Mr. Putin and Minister Erdogan signed a protocol on joint bilateral efforts in the oil and gas sector. The two leaders made commitments to organize the work of a task force for analyzing the feasibility and the potential of the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline. The pipeline will connect Turkey to major European markets.