Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 1
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
The reason for delaying the acquisition process of a 66 percent stake in Greek gas operator DESFA by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is the position of the European Commission, the Greek media outlets reported Apr. 1 quoting minister of environment, energy and climate change of Greece Panos Skourletis.
He said that claims by the European Commission slow down the process.
"The DESFA privatization is delayed due to the fact that the European Commission opposes the transfer of a controlling block in the gas operator to the SOCAR," said Skourletis.
He went on to add that the Greek government has no plans to privatize other energy assets.
SOCAR won a tender in December 2013 on the sale of 66-percent share in DESFA for 400 million euros. The European Commission started an inquiry into the compliance of the deal on acquisition of a stake in DESFA with the EU's regulations In November 2014. Currently, the deal is being considered by European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition.