Azerbaijan, Baku, April 23 / Trend S.Isayev/
Greece is obviously going to switch to another country for oil imports, however its going to be a problem for the country, EU economic advisor Mehrdad Emadi told Trend.
Emadi was commenting on Iran's cutting oil exports to Greece, and possible alternatives for the European oil consumer.
In the beginning of April, Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said the country has stopped exporting crude to Greece, following earlier reports that the Islamic Republic halted crude sales to two Greek firms.
On April 5, Press TV reported that Iran terminated oil sales to two Greek firms, major refiner Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil Hellas, over their failure to pay for their crude purchases from Tehran.
"Iran has awaited long for payments, sometimes as long as 6 months," Emadi said. "This is not common for international oil transactions".
Advisor noted that Greece will be looking for another oil supplier, however problems may arise with financial transactions, that will have to be immediate and more readily available.
"Considering Greece's economic crisis, this is not going to be very easy. It is not a commodity that Greece, or any other country like Greece can quickly reduce its consumption," Emadi noted. "So its going to put a strain on an already fragile economy of Greece".
EU sanctions will take effect on July 1, 2012, to give the bloc's member states enough time to adjust to the new conditions and find alternative crude oil supplies.
EU advisor: Switching to another oil exporter from Iran - a problem for Greece
