Turkey approves final EIA for TurkStream’s offshore section

A thorough consultation process resulted in the final EIA. After publishing the draft EIA on 21 June, the Turkish government established a Review and Evaluation Commission (REC), consisting of 23 relevant institutions and authorities. On 4 July, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization organized a meeting with the REC members in order to ask questions and provide feedback on the draft EIA. Subsequently, the REC members submitted their opinions on the draft EIA in writing. The EIA has been amended in line with these opinions. All REC members have now provided a positive opinion on the EIA to the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. The approved EIA is available online.

The EIA consists of information on the potential environmental and social impacts of the offshore section of the TurkStream project. It also includes recommendations for the mitigation of the potential adverse impacts and enhancement of the beneficial ones.

In preparation of the EIA, field surveys were conducted to identify, assess and document potential environmental and social impacts of project activities. As part of the assessment, various Turkish stakeholders, including government experts, local community representatives and fishing groups, were consulted.

The EIA was prepared and submitted by ELC Group Inc. on behalf of South Stream Transport B.V., the project owner of the offshore section of the TurkStream pipeline project.