“The coming year will be critical for Turkey and Russia to realize energy projects and to integrate economies,” Russian Ambassador to Turkey Vladmir Ivanovskiy stated in the interview with Hurriyet Daily News.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko will visit Turkey in February followed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit in March, the source reads.

“We are entering into a new partnership and settling down to work rather than waste time with empty words. Russian Premier Vladimir Putin suggested a real economic integration, in which Turkish companies are allowed to produce energy in Russia while Russian companies are involved in energy sale and distribution in Turkey. We are ready to open our energy market to Turkish companies,” Ivanovskiy outlined.

L.A.