Baku, Azerbaijan, June 18
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
Starting from 2019, Russia plans to cut gas supplies to the EU through Ukraine and launch gas through Turkey and Greece.
Russian officials and the leadership of Gazprom repeatedly stated that the reason for this decision lies in the intention to bypass Ukraine as "an unreliable transit country" in view of the current unstable situation there.
On one hand, one can understand Russia: it is interested in providing an uninterrupted supply of its gas to Europe and seeks to protect itself from any problems in this regard.
However, there are reasons to believe that by redirecting its gas flows from Ukraine to Greece, Russia risks falling out of the frying pan into the fire.
Greece is one of the most problematic EU countries. Problems in Greece create difficulties for all countries of the European Union and are considered one of the main reasons for the decline of the euro. Against this background, calls to exclude Greece from the euro zone increase.
In addition, it seems that Greece is unable to fulfill its obligations to pay debts worth billions of dollars. In early June, the ruling party of Greece decided not to make the regular payment to the International Monetary Fund and asked to postpone it till late June. Moreover, some politicians of this country stated that in case of failure to conclude an agreement with creditors, Greece may refuse to pay at all. Thus, the Greek government found it possible to violate international agreements.
But if it is still possible not to forgive, but at least understand Athens in the issue of payment of debts (all recognize the poor economic situation of Greece and the lack of money in the country), the Greek government on June 17 made a decision that defies any explanation or justification.
Greece decided to abandon the deal to sell a controlling stake in DESFA state-owned gas operator of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan).
SOCAR won a tender to purchase a 66 percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros in December 2013. It fulfilled all its obligations and waited patiently, when all the bureaucratic procedures for the sale of shares are over. By the way, the deal was approved by a number of state organizations in Greece.
The new government came to power in Greece in January 2015. It decided to reconsider the terms of transactions concluded by the previous Cabinet of Ministers, including the sale of a controlling stake in DESFA.
Thus, Greece refused from the money offered by SOCAR at the very moment when it needs it very much and there is nothing to pay back the loans with. Despite the global economic crisis, on the contrary, Azerbaijan is ready to clearly fulfill its obligations.
But, moreover, this decision means that the Greek government refuses from the succession fixed in the concluded international treaties and considers it possible to review them at its discretion and quite deliberately, rather than as a result of the circumstances.
The question arises in this situation. Can we trust Greece? In particular, can Russia trust Greece? By investing billions of dollars in the Turkish Stream construction, does not Russia risk to face the desire of the Greek government to revise its commitments in the future? Won't Gazprom's leaving from "instability" in Ukraine turn into big problems with the instability in Greece?
It is necessary to thoroughly think over these questions.
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Elena Kosolapova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
