DESFA talks set in motion

/By AzerNews/

By Gulgiz Dadashova

The debt-crisis hit Greek government is set to resume talks with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR on the sale of a controlling interest in Greece’s gas transmission system operator DESFA.

The talks, scheduled for next week, will focus on the shares in DESFA, which will be sold to SOCAR, the Kathimerini newspaper quoted Panos Skourletis, the productive reconstruction, environment and energy minister of Greece, as saying July 29

SOCAR agreed to pay 400 million euros to buy a 66 percent stake in DESFA in the summer of 2013.

The Greek natural gas transmission manager, DESFA, plays a crucial role in the realization of major pipeline projects including the Trans-Adriatic pipeline, Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector, and the newly proposed Turkish Stream.

The agreement in 2013 to sell a majority stake in DESFA to the Azerbaijani company was stalled by a European Commission investigation in late 2014 over EU competition and energy security concerns.

Later in early 2015, the new Greek government announced that it would sell only 49 percent to SOCAR, however, the Azerbaijani side countered that it sought to fulfill its original 66 percent stake.

Earlier Konstantinos Xifaras, CEO at DESFA, Greece’s natural gas grid operator, said that DESFA is investing in Greece and hopes new projects and transit gas pipelines will be developed, while noting that all this activity will require the country remaining a part of the European family.

The DESFA chief said Greece’s continuation within the EU will benefit the country as virtually all projects are supported by European financing, adding that he hoped DESFA will participate in the development of prospective pipeline projects to cross through Greece.

This aim could be well realized through SOCAR, the initiator of the major energy projects, such as the Southern Gas Corridor, designed to bring Caspian gas to Europe.

SOCAR was eyeing the share in DESFA to heighten its presence and level of activities in the wider region of southeast Europe, and boost realization of the TAP project.

SOCAR’s acquisition of DESFA would provide widespread benefits for SOCAR, the Greek economy, and the EU also.

This June, two years have elapsed since the completion of the DESFA sale’s tender procedures, according to which SOCAR can withdraw from the deal without any repercussions in case the deal no longer appears to satisfy its commercial aspirations.

Fluxys will have finally entered the Greek energy market. The Belgian company has already acquired a 19 percent stake in the TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline) project, to transmit Azeri natural gas to the EU via Greece.

In case SOCAR drops its bid, DESFA will need to search for another foreign investor that would be able to guarantee its 2.2 billion-euros investment strategy since the Greek economy faced bankruptcy.