With permission from Ankara, the Russian gascompany, Gazprom, is allowed to build the second stage of the underwater pipeline for gas on the Turkish coast. In October 2016, Moscow and Ankara signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the Turkish gas pipeline, after which construction work began in May 2017. The pipeline has two parts with a processing capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters per year. The first pipeline, scheduled to be operational in March 2019, will supply gas to Turkish customers. The second part will serve for delivery to South and Southeast Europe. It should be put into use in 2019.