Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
It is unlikely that the European Commission will approve the arrival of the Russian company Gazprom to Greece through the purchase of Greek gas operator DESFA instead of Azerbaijan, the research assistant of the Center for the Study of Central Asia and Caucasus of the Institute of Oriental Studies (Moscow) Stanislav Pritchin said.
SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) and Gazprom were competing for the right to acquire DESFA. In December 2013, SOCAR won the tender for acquisition of 66 percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros. But in November 2014, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to determine whether the acquisition of DESFA SOCAR is in line with the EU Merger Regulation. Until now, this question remains open.
At the same time, Russia has recently begun to actively show interest for Greece - the first European country, which is expected to receive Russian gas after Turkey within the project Turkish Stream initiated by Russia.
Russian media reported that Russia is now interested in Greece to reconsider the proposal of Gazprom to purchase DEPA, the deal on which failed in June 2013 because of objections by the European Commission. Now, on the background of delaying the deal on acquisition of DESFA by SOCAR, rumors emerged that Russia can somehow affect this process.
And the negotiations held earlier between the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the Russian President Vladimir Putin served as a momentum for such talks.
Pritchin told Trend that under a plan to create a southern gas hub in Greece, the acquisition of DESFA by Gazprom would have looked quite logical.
However, as he said, it is contrary to a strategy, recently adopted by the Russian company, on not participating in gas distribution networks of the EU countries, as this area is highly regulated by the European Commission.
"On the other hand, the deal to buy 66 percent of DESFA by SOCAR has been realized, but it hasn't yet received approval from the European officials," said Pritchin. "In such a situation, much depends on their stance."
"And it is difficult to imagine that they will approve Gazprom's coming to Greece, through the purchase of the company, instead of Azerbaijan," he added.
During Tsipras's visit to Moscow, the main topics of the talks included the cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, and in particular Greece's participation in the Russia-initiated 'Turkish Stream' gas pipeline project, which is meant to deliver Russia's gas to Turkey via the Black Sea.
Putin, during the talks, said Greece's involvement in the 'Turkish Stream' will raise the country's geopolitical status, turning it into a major transit country for the whole southern Europe and bring it good money for the transit.
Greece is also a key participant of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which is implemented as part of the Southern Gas Corridor. TAP is meant to transport gas from the Stage 2 of the development of the Azerbaijani field Shah Deniz to European markets.
The Southern Gas Corridor is a priority energy project for the EU. It aims to diversify the routes and sources of supplies, and thereby increase EU's energy security.
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Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AygunBadalova
