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ATHENS, Nov 3Greece's state-owned gas company DEPA Commerce is negotiating with Gazprom on prices and conditions for supplies of Russian gas next year, said Greece's Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skilakakis, as quoted by the ot.gr portal of the Oikonomicos Tahidromos publication (OT, Financial Courier «).
«Skylakakis confirmed the OT publication, according to which the two companies are sitting at the negotiating table on prices and the take-or-pay clause, that is, the payment of a penalty for volumes that, despite its obligations, the Greek company did not receive» , writes the publication.
“The minister’s statements expressed concern about selling prices for Russian natural gas, but mainly about the share of this fuel in the Greek market,” the publication notes.
“»Europe managed to reduce the amount of Russian gas from 40% to 9%. However, in Greece the situation is different,» the minister said, without making public data on the share of Gazprom gas in the country.
In the first nine months of this year, Russian gas arrived through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline (Sidirokastro's entry point), as well as by sea ( LNG) accounted for 40% of total imports, the publication writes.
“»According to some unconfirmed reports, this volume has increased significantly. Maybe even up to 60%,» the article says.
Skilakakis, answering the question whether the tax introduced by Bulgaria affects the cost of Russian gas imported to Greece, said that “with regard to the DEPA Commerce-Gazprom contract,” this tax does not affect. “This is because the contract stipulates that the agreed price cannot be changed by a tax introduced before Sidirokastro,” he said.
However, the minister emphasized that “Russian gas is a complex issue,” and negotiations with Gazprom continue.
Skilakakis made it clear that the Russian company did not comply with the terms of the contract regarding sales prices at DEPA Commerce.
«There are conditions regarding the prices at which gas is sold in relation to other suppliers,» he said.
The publication claimed, citing anonymous Greek officials, that Gazprom cannot sell gas to another client on the Greek market at lower prices compared to the contract concluded with DEPA Commerce.
Skilakakis also emphasized the complexity of the issue in connection with Europe's policy of limiting purchases of Russian gas.
Skilakakis, however, refused — while negotiations are ongoing — to answer the question of whether it is possible to stop supplies of Russian gas.
In addition to the state-owned DEPA Commerce, Russian natural gas is imported into Greece by the Copelouzos Group and the Mytilineos Group.
«War for Russian gas»
The publication writes that in fact, over the last few weeks, there has been a war over Russian gas, which goes to Greece and the Balkan countries.» «The war over Russian gas flared up after the Bulgarian parliament passed a law introducing a “transit fee” of 10, 20 euros per megawatt-hour of Russian gas passing through its pipeline network to other European states. “For the Greek side, there is a question of compliance with the terms of the contract by the Russian supplier. And this, as sources say, is due to the fact that Gazprom is obliged to sell DEPA gas cheaper than to all its other clients in Greece. Which it does not do. In addition, sources note that the Russian side is seeking to activate the “take or pay” clause, which allows it to recover from DEPA and, accordingly, its clients the burden of 200 million euros for the volumes of gas that it should have bought, but did not buy,” the publication writes.
«»Government sources indicate that gas consumption was reduced and therefore it was not possible to accept all the agreed volumes On the other hand, they insist that the Russian side, although it should have offered DEPA a competitive price compared to its competitors, nevertheless did not do so,” the article says.