ISTANBUL, June 8. /TASS/. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the country’s energy company Botas plans to set up a joint venture with Gazprom as part of a plan to establish a hub in Turkey for selling natural gas.

"Significant work has been done in recent years to establish a natural gas trading center in Turkey. We are now planning to establish an operating company in partnership with BOTAS and Gazprom in Istanbul," he was quoted as saying by NTV television.

Bayraktar also said, following his participation in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, that the sides appreciated a Russia-proposed roadmap for the gas hub project in Turkey.

He expressed confidence that concrete work on the project will begin in the near future.

"In the coming months, we would like to carry out concrete work and realize the hub project," the minister said.

In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward the idea of creating a hub in Turkey that would handle the gas that used to be shipped through the Nord Stream underwater gas pipeline.