Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Possibilities of expanding economic and business relations between Baku and Athens were discussed at a meeting between President of the Union of Hellenic Chambers (UHC) Konstantinos Mihalos and Azerbaijani Ambassador to Greece Rahman Mustafayev in Greece on September 7.

The sides touched upon different issues concerning economic and business cycles of the two countries.

They discussed recent negative developments in the final implementation of the agreement between DESFA and Azerbaijani state company SOCAR.

Mustafayev expressed strong concern as the Greek side changed the terms of the contract managing the future income of DESFA, which can lead even to the termination of the contract.

Mihalos, in turn, said that Greek business community wants to maintain good relations between the two countries, and a possible cancellation of the agreement will obviously deteriorate positive business atmosphere, formed thanks to promotion of business ties between the two countries.

SOCAR won a tender in 2013 on the purchase of a 66-percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros ($446.3 million) but the acquisition was stalled, when SOCAR faced EU’s anti-trust concerns and was ordered to sell 17 percent of DESFA to a third party, so that its stake drops to 49 percent and satisfy EU competition authorities. Greece passed a law in July which raised DESFA's gas tariffs, further complicating the sale.

SOCAR hopes it can overcome the EU obstacles, as Italy’s Snam SpA may purchase at least required 17 percent of shares.

Greek Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Panos Skourletis previously accused the European Commission of delaying the deal on selling a share in Greece's DESFA to SOCAR.

Earlier, Director General of SOCAR Energy Greece Anar Mammadov told Turkish reporters that SOCAR expects compromise proposals from the Greek government for the successful completion of the deal on acquisition of a stake in Greece's gas transmission system operator DESFA.

“We are ready to work together with the Greek government and offered them a compromise. We are currently interested in the project, but it must be also reasonable from a commercial point of view, and under the new conditions, SOCAR may not be quite ready for privatization,” he said.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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