Moscow has sent two offers to Ankara relating to the Turkish Stream project, apparently showing readiness to decouple the construction of a pipeline for gas deliveries to Turkey from the proposed pipes for transit of Russian gas to Europe.

"We’ve sent two offers to Turkey, one - on one line and another - on four lines. Currently, the Turkish side is considering those offers," TASS news agency quoted a Russian Energy Ministry official as saying on Friday.

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said last week that Moscow is ready to sign an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of one line of Turkish Stream that will supply gas for the Turkish market only within a week or two. Novak also said the Turkish side was studying that proposal.

A source at Russia’s Energy Ministry told TASS earlier that the presidents of Russia and Turkey had agreed on a phased implementation of the project.

A separate intergovernmental agreement will be concluded for the construction of pipes 2 to 4, which are projected to carry gas to the EU via Turkish territory, according to the source.

Moscow had initially proposed that the construction of pipelines for gas deliveries to Turkey and transit to the EU market should be included in one package. Ankara, however, insisted that the project was split in two, with one intergovernmental agreement covering the pipline for deliveries to Turkey and a second one covering the proposed pipelines for gas transit to the EU.

Turkish Stream, which was proposed as a substitute to the cancelled Gazprom-led South Stream pipeline project, is projected to carry Russian natural gas to Turkey and the EU across the Black Sea.

The proposed annual capacity of the four lines of the pipeline is 63 billion cubic metres, of which Turkey is to take about 14 billion cubic metres. The remainder is proposed to be transited to a gas hub, to be built on Turkey’s border with Greece, for exports to Europe.