MOSCOW, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — Russian company Gazprom has received permits from Turkey for the construction of a gas pipeline from south Russia to Turkey, Gazprom announced Wednesday.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that the permits are positive news for Gazprom. It reflects the Turkish government's interest in the project, according to a statement published on Gazprom's website.

The natural gas pipeline, running from southern Russian region of Krasnodar across the Black Sea to Thrace in Turkey, would boast a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The project, initially scheduled to be finished by end of 2014, was suspended due to the cooling of political relations between Moscow and Ankara.

As a result of last week's negotiations between Miller and the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, the two sides agreed to complete all necessary preparations for the start of the project as soon as possible.

An agreement on normalizing bilateral ties after months of tension was reached on Aug. 9 during a meeting between Russia President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in St. Petersburg.