Russia prevents the signing of the purchase agreement of the Azerbaijani State Oil Company SOCAR with Greek DESFA gas distribution network

Tuesday was disrupted the pompous signing of a major agreement in Baku of Azerbaijan State Oil Company SOCAR buying the public gas network DESFA of the Greek natural gas monopoly DEPA, reported agency Turan.

Formally signing breakdown occurred due to the impossibility of arrival in Baku of the Greek delegation headed by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. The plane took off in Athens the evening of December 16, but then was forced to land due to a technical malfunction, according to the Greek media. The delegation could not find another aircraft.

But on Tuesday it became known that the Russian state company Gazprom offered 16 December more favorable terms of the purchase of DEPA together with DESFA, told Greek newspaper Ekathimerini.

The privatization of the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) will be delayed, sell-off fund TAIPED chief Constantinos Maniatopoulos told Reuters on Monday, given that Gazprom is the only interested party. “Russia has said it would be interested in any new tender. Let’s see,» he said. "But with just one bidder it’s difficult to call a new tender,” stressed Maniatopoulos

In June of this year, five companies turned to applications for purchase of DEPA and its gas distribution "daughter » DESFA. Of the five members the offer of 66 % DESFA received only from the Azerbaijani company SOCAR, binding bids for DEPA nobody filed, said the Privatization Agency of Greece.

Competition will be announced again, said on June 10 Deputy Energy Minister of Greece Makis Papageorgiou. "We believe that the next stage will be held in more favorable conditions for greater participation, because there is no threat of a Greek exit from the eurozone,” - the "Prime" said, referring to Capital.gr.

It is interesting that at the same time, the President of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev presented the case to purchase shares of the Greek company as a foregone conclusion, noting that the procedure starts with the preparation of the agreement.

Then Raiffeisenbank analyst Andrei Polishchuk suggested that the decision not to participate in the tender Gazprom has taken for political reasons: "The EU and the U.S. are afraid of growing influence of" Gazprom. Greece could not ignore the position of the EU, although the Gazprom proposal was very profitable for Athens, and 2 times higher than the other bids." Assets of DEPA, according to the Greek newspaper Imerys, evaluated at least 1 billion euros, and its “daughter” DESFA - 500 million euros.

Disruption of the contract and the start of negotiations with Gazprom could also mean that the EU has agreed on Gazprom's participation in the Greek gas market. -0-