Russia. could be the glue between Turkey and Greece through non-dollar trade

Πηγή: The Examiner 
Feb 9 2015

As Russia continues to bring economy after economy into a new bi-lateral trading paradigm, the Eurasian power could soon pull off a massive coup, and one that has kept the nations of Greece and Turkey at odds with one another since the end of World War II until recent times.

On Feb. 9, Hakan Ates, the CEO of Turkey’s DenizBank, announced that Turkey is currently working with Russia on the establishment of a currency swap line that would allow each nation to trade directly with one another using each other's currencies, and outside the dollar which is quickly becoming more and more isolated from international trade. This swap line would be in addition to a Russo-Turk agreement that is in place to build a Turk-Stream pipelinethat will bypass Ukraine and start bringing in oil and natural gas to Europe through a Southern route.

And while new agreements between Russia and Turkey move forward at lightening speed, the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, coupled with Russia's willingness to intervene monetarily in the Eurozone country, could be the catalyst that opens the door for a new dawn of joint integration between two longstanding adversaries, and create an economic solution that would benefit both Greece and Turkey through the Eurasian Economic Union.

(Russia and Turkey are working towards trade payments in national currencies, according to the president and CEO of Turkey’s DenizBank, Hakan Ates.

“We are ready to do everything to facilitate the transition to payments in national currencies. Such a transition is possible but our central banks have to make this decision. We’re already working in this direction but haven’t reached direct agreements so far. We have to make it happen,” Ates said on Sunday.

DenizBank is almost entirely owned by Russia’s Sberbank, which has been under Western sanctions since last summer.

Trade between Russia and Turkey reached $32.7 billion in 2014, making Turkey Russia’s eighth biggest trading partner, while Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner, after the European Union. - ) Russia Today

The key to a end of the decades long struggle between Greece and Turkey could be the jointly controlled island of Cyprus, and its functionality as a banking center between Europe and the Middle East. And just as recent as yesterday, Cyprus forged an agreement with Russia to allow military bases to be built on the island, which places them squarely in position of being able to negotiate economic treaties with both nations that might soon include oil production in the contested Aegean Sea.

Many financial analysts, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, believe that Greece will opt to leave the Euro and Eurozone, and begin a new financial system outside the Euro currency. And with the Southern European nation having plenty of resource reserves that only need capital and support to turn them into revenue generating commodities, having Russian influence over Turkey in a new trade agreement will allow any remaining Greek hatreds to dissipate should they eventually sign on board using the Eurasian Economic Union model as their platform.

Gazprom investments into South Stream Jan-Sept 2014 amount to $502 million

Πηγή: Tass
Jan 29 2015

Gazprom's net loss from participating in the project is estimated at $31 million (2.1 billion rubles) for the end of the reporting period.

MOSCOW, January 29. / TASS / Gazprom investment into the South Stream project in January-September 2014 amounted to $502 million (33.7 billion rubles), the company report says.

At the beginning of 2014, the amount of investment was estimated at $103.5 million (7 billion rubles).

Gazprom's net loss from participating in the project is estimated at $31 million (2.1 billion rubles) for the end of the reporting period.

South Stream is Gazprom's global infrastructure project for the construction of gas pipelines, with capacity of 63 billion cubic meters. It was slated to go across the Black Sea to South and Central Europe, in order to diversify export routes for natural gas and lower transit risks.

However, on December 1, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that "under current circumstances, Russia will not implement the South Stream project."

In turn, head of Gazprom Alexey Miller said that that "South Stream project is no longer relevant." "That's it, the project is closed," he said, while commenting the Russian-Turkish summit talks.


Russian gas supplies to Europe: existing routes


THE MAIN EXPORT ROUTES OF RUSSIA’S NATURAL GAS SUPPLIES TO EUROPE. Infographics by TASS

See also: Gazprom to build Turkish Stream gas pipeline’s sea section independently

South Stream ‘Plan B’ opts for route through Greece and Turkey

Πηγή: EurActiv
Aug 19 2014

A Russian newspaper has published an article suggesting that the Kremlin-favoured South Stream gas pipeline could drop Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and Slovenia for its route, and instead reach its final destinations, Italy and Austria, through Turkey and Greece.

On Monday (18 August), Russian business newspaper Vzglyad published an article by journalist Oleg Makarenko, claiming that Gazprom has a “plan B” in case Bulgaria continues to obstruct the construction of the South Stream pipeline.

A caretaker government in Sofia, which took office on 6 August, has frozen the construction of South Stream, following clear indications from Brussels that the EU executive would impose infringements on Bulgaria, unless the country re-negotiates its bilateral agreement with Russia for the construction of the pipeline, which is in breach of EU law.

>> Read: Barroso warns Bulgaria on South Stream

According to the Vzglyad article, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already hinted at another route for South Stream, during his meeting with leaders of world media, on 24 May.

The article quotes Turkish energy Minister Taner Yıldız as saying that Ankara would allow South Stream to reach Turkey under the Black Sea instead of Bulgaria, as originally planned.

However, Russian sources are quoted as saying that the Turkish route is not Moscow’s preferred one, as it is longer, and because of the lost possibility of reaching Serbia and Hungary.

‘Good partners’

Turkey is seen as a “good partner” for Russia, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is described as a “cynical pragmatist” who wants revenge on the USA, which has reportedly tried to oust him twice. Greece is described as a country where social unrest is boiling. “The attempts to leave Greece without money, without agriculture [as a result of the Russian counter-sanctions] and without gas will trigger massive social unrest,” the article says.

Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Romania are described as the biggest victims of plan B. In the event that the Ukrainian gas transmission system is “blocked permanently”, Russia would reportedly not be able to supply any gas to these countries.

The article ends by saying that Russia would prefer not to opt for a plan B, but if the Commission doesn’t stop pressuring Bulgaria to freeze the construction of the pipeline, this alternative appears to be a viable option.

“We have to be very happy that Russia has a working spare plan to supply gas to Southern and Central Europe,” the article concludes.

A direct competitor to TAP?

If Gazprom decides to choose Turkey and Greece for the South Stream route, the pipeline project would largely resemble the TANAP-TAP project to bring Azeri gas to Italy through the territories of the same countries.

The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) is a proposed natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan running through Turkey. The approximately 870 km long TAP pipeline connects with TANAP, and will cross Greece and Albania before reaching Italy through an offshore section. It is to be built by a consortium led by BP, Norway's Statoil and Azerbaijan's SOCAR.

TAP is in an advanced stage of preparation and the start of its construction is planned in 2016.

Asked by EurActiv to comment, the European Commission said it was unable to confirm reports that NGOs were funded with Russian money, in order to delay the TAP project.

Greece stresses its role as EU’s energy hub

Πηγή: EurActiv
Jan 13 2014

Greece, holding the rotating presidency of the EU until June, said it would promote the enhancement of energy security in the 28-country bloc and fully support the European Commission’s approach to Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Speaking to the press in Athens last week, the Greek minister for energy, Yiannis Maniatis, said the first pillar for European energy security was the support of initiatives to diversify gas supply, including gas from the Caspian Sea and the gradual implementation of the Southern Corridor.

According to the minister, “interconnectors” for big pipelines were key contributor to Europe's energy security.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) and the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB) recently signed an agreement laying the foundations for linking the two projects and thus bringing gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, a country which depends on Russia for almost 100% of its gas imports.

The two sides will work together on realising a possible interconnection point in the vicinity of Komotini, Greece. “These interconnectors are choices that objectively enforce the energy security of Europe,” Maniatis said.

The second pillar for European energy security, Maniatis said, was the recent developments in oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

“I would like to highlight that the perfect cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, shapes new policies of energy supply in Europe and sends a quite hopeful message,” he noted.

The "Projects of Common Interest” (PCI) constitutes the third pillar and will be implemented with the participation of Greece, the minister said.

“This issue is a priority and is being shaped through Greece’s ambition to become an energy hub of the greater region ... we hope that the Informal Meeting of Energy Ministers will note that a new source of energy supply for Europe is being shaped,” Maniatis added.

Doubts about the future of South Stream

The European Commission said last month (4 December) that the bilateral agreements for the construction of the Gazprom-favoured South Stream gas pipeline – concluded between Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria – are all in breach of EU law and need to be renegotiated from scratch.

“We agree with the strategic plans of the European Commission, which we have supported for all these years, as it was the case with the Southern Corridor”, said the Greek deputy minister of environment, energy and climate change, Makis Papageorgiou.

But he conceded that there were conflicting signs from Gazprom’s side on the South Stream pipeline.

“As a plan, it has been around since 2007. The company has made many moves, and as you already know, Greece has signed an agreement with the Russian company. After that, Gazprom abolished the southern branch and made new agreements focusing on the northern branch.”

“It is still unclear what exactly will happen with South Stream,” he noted.

“The position of the European Commission on the issue is pretty clear: Gazprom has to make its plans clear, under what conditions it will operate in the EU,” he added.

Privatisations in energy sector

Even though debt-ridden Greece is on the recovery path, the country may need to accelerate privatisation, especially in the energy sector, namely the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA) and the public Natural Gas Supply Corporation of Greece (DEPA).

The privatisation of the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA) is in the process of final approval by Brussels.

“By the summer, this process will be finalised and Azeri company SOCAR will acquire 66% shares of the company while 34% will remain in the Greek state”, said Papageorgiou.

As for DEPA, the international bid was inconclusive since Gazprom pulled out, despite its initial interest.

According to the Greek deputy minister, Gazprom finally backed off as a result of EU conditions.

“Evidently, the reason for this, as stated by Russian PM Alexander Medvedev, is that the EU conditions at some point should change. As long as the conditions of the EU don’t change and Greece is a member of the EU and abides by its rules in the energy market, no more moves can be made”, the deputy minister noted.

He added that the privatisation of DEPA will happen later, as currently Greece holds discussions with the Commission about gas market reform.

BACKGROUND:

Crisis-hit Greece took over the reins of the EU Council of Ministers on Wednesday (1 January) with a record low budget of €50 million set aside as the “absolute maximum” to run the presidency during the next six months.

While analysts have predicted Greece will require more aid, albeit on a smaller scale than previous bailouts totalling about €240 billion, the troubled country has vowed to spend considerably less than other countries'
presidencies.

Greece takes the helm of the EU at a critical time, just months before the end of the current European Parliament. This means that Greece will have less than four months to deliver on complicated dossiers, rather than the full six months.

The main presidency priorities are the European Banking Union, growth and jobs, migration and a European maritime policy.

Editor's Note: At the same time Greece didn't reach an agreement with Gazprom over the natural gas price.

See (in Greek) : Δεν συμφώνησαν ΔΕΠΑ - Gazprom για το φυσικό αέριο

 

Gazprom Mulls for an Eventual South Stream Link to Greece

Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Greek PM Antonis Samaras

Πηγή: Natural Gas Europe
March 14 2013

The visit of a high-level delegation from Gazprom headed by CEO Alexey Miller to Athens for talks with Greek stakeholders has led to an announcement concerning local and regional natural gas politics.

Following discussions with the Greek Premier Antonis Samaras, Miller revealed that his company still has plans to link the country with South Stream, although there was no mention of taking the pipeline all the way to Southern Italy. This implies that the Russian strategy is to use Greece as a potential LNG hub, supplied by South Stream.

When Gazprom announced plans in November 2012 to take out the Greece-Italy route from the pipeline, this further supported the general trend of Russian natural gas corporations such asNovatek to move towards the global LNG trade in a more dynamic fashion, since the Asian and EU markets are said to need substantial amounts of that gas over the coming decades, a strategy that Natural Gas Europe reported on at the time.

There is also the question of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which is currently vying withNabucco West for the transfer of Azeri gas to the EU. Greek media reported after the delegation's visit that in fact both projects could co-exist since they will transfer different sources of gas, potentially reducing prices at a pan-European level and at the same time they could open up a lucrative LNG market for the whole of Southern Europe.

Talks between the two parties also revolved around the intention of the Greek government to request substantial deceases in the price of gas imported by Gazprom and in respect to the long-term contract, which ends in 2016. According to recent DEPA announcements, Greece is seeking a minimum 15 percent price cut in order to renew the contract for a minimum of 10 years.

The official Russian response regarding the DEPA-DESFA privatization was to request "fair treatment" by Greek authorities citing fears of political interference by other energy players or local business interests. Concurrently, the recent change of the head of the agency responsible for the privatization (TAIPED) resulted in a two week delay for the submission of the final binding offers, with a new date set for the 29th of April 2013.

TAIPED provided the opportunity to those involved to join in their final bid with other companies, aiming to attract more interest from European corporations, and since there is no development on this front, Gazprom and Sintez-Negusneft are left as favorites to win due to their higher offers and presumed more extensive business/gas plan.

Information from a variety of sources within the Greek energy community reveal the possibility that SOCAR and PPF-GEK will not submit a final offer for DESFA, thereby leaving Sintez as the sole competitor by the end of April. This information has not been able to be verified by the respective companies, which seem to prefer a low profile regarding their involvement in the competition.

A clear indication from the above is that Gazprom is still undecided and prefers to "wait and see" if it will suit its strategy to lay a pipeline through Greece and the decisive factor would be the outcome of its bid for DEPA.

Lastly, it is of great interest to view the month by month delays of the privatization process that seem to coincide with the announcement of the successful bidder for the Southern Corridor route, another assessment Natural Gas Europe made previously. Overall there is certainly a formation of a regional gas and political triangle between South Stream, Greek privatization and the Southern Corridor, in addition to newly discovered gas in the eastern Mediterranean. In that sense, a multilayered energy game is in full swing with tremendous interest for all key energy players in Europe.

Plan "Pythia 1": Kill the Greek Prime Minister (Second UPD 2023)

(17/6/2011)

According to the "Epikaira" magazine (Num. 87) siting a classified document of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) a group of twenty persons was acting in Athens according to a plan named "Pythia 1" with the objective of murdering the Greek Prime Minister K. Karamanlis back in 2008. As this magazine is far from any kind of conspiracy theories providing a rather good quality of well documented information this disclosure is a worth reading one. The whole incident according to this article had to do with the annihilation of Karamanlis policy intending to build strategic alliance with Russia on the energy sector of Greece. The four axis of the plan was the political destabilization using the "Batopaidi" scandal (a case of illegal shelling of church property in Chalkidiki), the destabilization in the business field materialized by downgrading the country's economy using any means including the kidnapping of prominent businessmen, the destabilization of the society including terroristic actions and finally putting obstacles in any improvement of Greece's place in the international arena including even the continuation of the need for visa to visit the US for the Greek citizens. It must be underlined that the whole report is coming from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and according to the Greek NIS's comment could be a case of misinformation. Nevertheless it fits well enough as the new Prime Minister Mr. Papandreou urgently denounced the Bourgas - Alexandoupoli gas line project in his pre - election declarations while Mr. Karamanlis disappeared abruptly from the political stage as soon as he lost the elections not even attempting to defend himself from the accusations that rendered him the sole responsible for the present economic tragedy.

A counter - surveillance team following Mr. Karamlis confronted for some seconds with the "Pythia's" members, two well fit Greek - speaking persons that managed to escape on a motorcycle leaving behind a blue Van  (Ford Transit type) which contained maps of the Prime Minister's usual routes, numbers of the plates of his secret escort, weapons, night - vision binoculars, telecommunication equipment and explosive material (C-4) that is not to be found in the domestic market and has never been used by any local terrorists. According to the FSB's report the plan was designed from the West Intelligence Services including Mossad. 

In spite that the Us Ambassador in Greece Mr. Speckhard on February 2008 said that there was not any problem with the Greece - Russia rapprochement according to Weakyleaks he was worried as he commented on the issue in a 2007 telegraph saying: "... our hope that EU institutions will rigorously require EU member states to consider and justify how their rhetorical (and sometimes more) support for South Stream meshes with the EU's overarching security need for Nabucco.". Furthermore in another telegraph (2007) printed in "TA NEA" newspaper he expressed his deep worries that the growing relations between Karamanlis and Putin could even lead Greece closer to Iran.


UPD 1 - Feb 16 2013

According to to the "Epikaira" magazine (Num. 174) the judicial authorities investigating the case after the crucial testimony of the chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Mr. John Corantis who certified that the Prime Minister was kept under surveillance by twenty foreign agents and Greek thugs. As for his safety Mr. Karamanlis was forced to quit his usual long walks and he was confined home. The investigation which initially was conducted by two prosecutors Mr. Drosoulias and Mr. Ornerakis as they existed two different cases: The destabilizing effort and attempted murder, now are merging to one. Those two cases were in advance combined with the case of interceptions and the Drosulias’ findings. All this is an indication that the prosecutor of the Supreme Court believes that behind those actions there is the same agent. It is noted that Drosulias in his report refers to the offense of aggravated espionage naming two Americans Mr. Paul Johnson and Barney Nathan who along with a Greek accomplish they had bought the phone cards. Additionally on February of 2009 NIS informed officially the administration that the Prime Minister was under surveillance on his daily route.

Former US Embassy employee William Basil was charged with the offence of attempted aggravated espionage with unknown perpetrators, on multiple occasions, from February 2004 to March 2005.

An arrest warrant was issued against him in 2015. The US intelligence official has never appeared before the Greek judicial authorities and has been a wanted man since 2015. The accused allegedly attempted to intentionally obtain classified information concerning the interests of the Hellenic Republic through telephone interception.

The prosecutor's investigation revealed that the wife of the person in question was the one who had purchased the mobile phone shadow cards from Akti Miaouli under the pseudonym "Petros Markou", which were used to monitor dozens of politicians, members of the then government and dozens of other persons.

The unsealing of one of the four telephone connections revealed that the telephone connection was also activated on another device, with "American Embassy" subscriber details. Following the disclosure of the interceptions, William Basil disappeared from Greece.

The whole case is pointing to an attempt by the United States to annul the contract between Greece and Russia on the South Stream gas pipeline. Mr. Papandreou on his pre-election speech was fast to declare that he was eager to renegotiate any agreement after his election. Interestingly at present US and Europe are pressing the Greek government to avoid shelling the gas and oil state companies to the Russian firms that offer almost the triple amount of money from the other candidates.

Lastly it is again through the Russian money laundering that the EU is pressuring on Cyprus forgetting about Luxemburg or Switzerland the heavens of laundering just in the heart of Europe.

UPD2: The issue of 'Pythia' plan was effectively ended when the director of the National Intelligence Service, Mr. Roubatis, revealed after months of investigations an older document that denied the surveillance and the existence of a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister. The strange thing, of course, contrary to what was presented, is not why this document did not appear earlier by the witnesses who were examined, but why Mr Roubatis did not submit it in time, leaving such a serious judicial case of high treason to drag on for months 'aimlessly', remaining a mere spectator.

Gazprom launches construction of Southern Corridor pipeline section

Πηγή: Panarmenian
Dec 28 2012

Gazprom has started construction and assembly work on the western section of the Southern Corridor gas pipeline in Russia, that will feed into the South Stream gas export pipeline, Russia’s natural gas monopoly said on Friday, December 28, according to RIA Novosti.

The Southern Corridor system will also provide additional gas supplies to Russia’s central and southern regions and help develop industries and utilities.

The system’s total length will be 2,506 kilometers with annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters. The project is due to be completed in 2017.

The system encompasses eight regions of Russia: Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Saratov, Volgograd, Voronezh and Rostov Regions; the Republic of Mordovia; and Krasnodar Territory.

The western section runs from the Pisarevka compressor station in the Voronezh Region to the Russkaya station in Krasnodar Territory, totaling 880.6 kilometers.

Russkaya will be the Southern Corridor’s end point and South Stream’s point of entry.

Stage 2 of the project - the Eastern Section - which also terminates at Russkaya, will run 1,625 kilometers from Pochinki (Nizhny Novgorod Region).

Bulgaria and Russia seal SouthStream deal

Πηγή: Euronews
Nov 17 2912

Russia and Bulgaria have signed a deal to build the Bulgarian section of the SouthStream pipeline project, bringing Russian gas to Europe under the Black Sea.

The SouthStream project is 50% Russian owned through Gazprom. 20% belongs to Italian oil company ENI, and 15% each is owned by EDF and Germany’s BASF. The Bulgarian section will be 540 kilometres long, and cost 3.3 billion euros.

“Today we signed the final investment decision on the Bulgarian part of the South Stream project and I must say that Bulgaria, together with us started the realization of the project. The final investment decision means a final agreement of both sides to start the project,” said Gazprom boss Alexei Miller.

In all the project will cost over 16 billion euros; a high price say analysts for the 3600 kilometre-long pipeline, especially as it falls foul of EU rules on suppliers owning transportation capacity.

But SouthStream would bypass existing supply routes through Belarus and Ukraine, with whom disputes with Moscow over gas transit tariffs in the past have interrupted supplies and caused political problems.

Bulgarian Govt Set for Final Decision on South Stream Pipeline

Πηγή: novinite
By SNA
Nov 12 2012

Bulgaria's government will come up with its investment decision for the construction of the Russian-sponsored gas transit pipeline South Stream on November 15, 2012, President Rosen Plevneliev announced.

Plevneliev met Monday with Economy Minister Delyan Dobrev over the upcoming signing of the contract for Bulgaria's participation in South Stream.

The meeting came after in the past few days the President declared that the Bulgarian public did not have sufficient information on the gas transit pipeline, while Mihail Andonov, head of the state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding, alleged the opposite.

Dobrev has assured Plevneliev that all necessary information on South Stream and Bulgaria's participation in the project is contained in a file that he has presented to the Council of Ministers and the Presidency.

Earlier, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov confirmed about Dobrev's file, and assumed that Plevneliev might not be well-informed on the project because of his traveling abroad in the recent days.

"What matters to me for the sake of the Bulgarian citizens and consumers is the approach. Minsiter Dobrev assured me that efforts are being made to reduce the price of natural gas," Plevneliev said on Monday, referring to Bulgaria's natural gas supplies from Russia, its primary supplier.

The Bulgarian President further noted that a common EU position on South Stream is important for Bulgaria, in addition to the further development of the Southern Energy Corridor (aka Southern Gas Corridor).

Plevneliev did stress, however, that South Stream is a project that diversifies the pipeline routes but does not diversify the supplier, i.e. Russia.

Dobrev in turn announced that Slovenia's decision about its South Stream section is expected later on Monday, as are the investment decisions of France and Italy about the underwater section of the pipeline, with Bulgaria thus being "the last country to sign the investment decision."

"We are yet to make our investment decision on Thursday when we will have also worked out the parameters of out new gas [supply] contract [with Russia]," the Economy Minister said.

Dobrev emphasized that Bulgaria had "no financial commitments" to the construction of South Stream.

"South Stream on Bulgaria's territory will be fully funded with project funding," he said.

The South Stream pipeline is intended to transport up to 63 billion cubic meters of natural gas to central and southern Europe, diversifying Russian gas routes away from transit countries such as Ukraine. Construction will start in December 2012, and not 2013 as previously planned.

The pipes will go from Russia to Bulgaria via the Black Sea; in Bulgaria it will split in two – with the northern leg going through Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia to Austria and Northern Italy, and the southern leg going through Greece to Southern Italy. Recent reports have indicated, however, that Russian energy giant Gazprom may give up on the construction of the offshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline to Austria.

The Black Sea underwater section of South Stream between Russia and Bulgaria will be 900 km long, and will be constructed at a maximum depth of 2 km.

In order to service the supplies for South Stream, Russia will expand its own gas transit network by building additional 2 446 km of pipelines with 10 compressor stations with a total capacity of 1473 MW, a project to be called "South Corridor" and to be completed in two stages by 2019.

The construction of the South Stream gas pipeline will begin in December 2012, and the first supplies for Europe are scheduled for December 2015.

The pipeline's core shareholders include Gazprom with 50%, Italy's Eni with 20% and Germany's Wintershall Holding and France's EDF with 15% each.

Gazprom has already established national joint ventures with companies from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Hungary and Serbia to manage the onshore section of the South Stream pipeline.

Bulgaria recently committed itself to speeding up the construction of the Russian-sponsored pipeline on its territory, since on January 1, 2013, the EU is introducing new requirements for the access to energy networks.

Editor's note: According to the Express newspaper Gazprom decided to freeze the southern part of the pipeline project in which Greece had agreed to participate. Leonid Chugunov, Head of the Project Management Department said that the decision was made due to economic reasons and had nothing to do with who is going to be the owner of the privatized Greek National Pertroleum company DEPA.

TAP Pushes its Plans in Greece

Πηγή: Natural Gas Europe
July 30 2012

A high level delegation representing the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline consortium met with Greek officials, including the alternate Minister for Energy Makis Papageorgiou, in order to push forward its plans for the project, which has gained a momentum after the developments of the past few months.

TAP's officials, Rikard Skoufias country manager for Greece, and Michael Hoffman, Director of External Affairs and Communications, stressed first and foremost the importance of official support for the project in order for the Southern Corridor to be realized through Greece.

In that respect they relayed their views that a tripartite declaration by the governments of Greece, Italy and Albania is needed, in order to show a solid political support. Already the latter has agreed to back up TAP, so as to be included in the Southern Corridor axis and bolster its energy security.

Moreover TAP is open to an agreement by which a Greek partner, namely DEPA would be accepted as a partner in the consortium and information was made known, that already four meetings with DEPA officials have taken place recently upon that subject.

Furthermore, TAP made a surprise announcement by stating that a Greek company "Greek pipe works S.A" has been pre-selected the estimated 500 million Euros contract for the construction of the pipeline. Should TAP is awarded the Southern Corridor route, this company which currently has a turnover of 260 million Euros (2011), would see its sales multiplying, thus boosting local industrial production.

TAP is also talking in parallel with ENEL in order to partner with it and secure Italian support. In that respect on the 15th of August the market study that will determine the market natural gas potentials in the long-term in Greece, Albania, Italy would be ready, so as to be able to then proceed into solid cooperation with individual companies such as ENEL and DEPA.

TAP officials were placed on the defensive last week follwing Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev’s statement favoring the rival Nabucco West project in the contest to carry Caspian gas to Europe. Informed sources told Natural Gas Europe that the Minister's comments reflected his personal point of view and not the position of the Azeri government or of the Shah Deniz consortium.

Skoufias noted that "Competition with Nabucco West is tough and we are doing our best...by October 2012 we should expect a positive and definite answer by the Greek government". It is interesting to note that the Italian minister of development Corrado Passera has indirectly sided with TAP, by stating "Italy needs foreign direct energy investments that will be self-financed". TAP believes that Italy and Albania are on their track.

In receiving the comments, the Greek energy ministry deferred to provide definitive support.

Minister Papageorgiou told TAP's officials that any answer will come after a final decision by the Greek Prime Minister's office and after consultation with the Italian government and the EU. Moreover, the Greek side has certain terms it wants to secure, such as the inclusion of DEPA and the securing of favorable long-term gas deliveries.

What’s more important though, is that the Greek government tends to believe that actually TAP will be the winner of the Southern Corridor route, thus they want to raise the bar of their expectations for as much as possible supplies of gas, in as less as possible prices, along with a sizeable percentage for DEPA in the consortium, which some local insiders point out that it should be around 20%.

Athens is also anxious to view of the Italian decision, which has in parallel been promoting the South Stream project, another pipeline where DEPA is also involved. Lastly, DEPA is also looking to extract as many advantages as possible through its - indirect for the moment- involvement in the offshore natural gas reserves in Cyprus.

Recently the ex-President of USA, Bill Clinton paid a visit to Athens, where reliable sources indicated that Noble Energy's activities in the Eastern Mediterreanean and plans for Southeastern Europe were discussed, in light of Washington's increased interest. DEPA's officials were also consulted as the potential partners in such mid-term plans.

The main question that arises is will Greece be ready to take a definite decision by the last quarter of 2012 and if so, what will be the TAP's consortium's initiatives in order to firmly secure its position.