Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 21
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
More and more excitement flares up around the issue of gas supplies to Europe. In particular, all the attention is focused on Greece, which by chance suddenly became a kind of arbiter of the fate of the EU's energy, and it seems that the country is not ready to cope with this role.
One would think there hardly could be any room given the fact that Brussels announced a policy of diversification of sources, and, moreover, has already begun construction of the Southern Gas Corridor, initiated by Azerbaijan. But no, the new Greek government decided upon a weird game, on the one hand, by telling partners on the Southern Gas Corridor about its commitment to the project, and on the other hand, by actively cooperating with Russia on the Turkish Stream project.
Of course, it would be naive to be surprised by the fact that the words of the new Greek government do not meet actions, but there are certain contractual obligations, which it will have to fulfill.
The stir is also fueled by the fact that the meeting of the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis will be held April 21 in Athens, following the results of which many people are waiting for some statements. The news about the fact that Greece has invited Russia to participate in the development of oil and gas fields in the Greek offshore area, emphasizes the "special relationship" of Athens and Moscow in energy policy.
The Turkish Stream is currently at the stage of negotiations. The agreement on the discount for Russian gas delivered to Turkey hasn't been signed so far and the project hasn't even been discussed with the EU, the ultimate buyer.
Moreover, the remarks made by Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the European Commission, in charge of Energy Union, suggest that in fact, Gazprom simply confronted Europe with an accomplished fact: Russian gas will be delivered to Europe through the Turkish Stream and the EU will have to construct gas pipelines to Turkish coast in order to get this gas.
A similar situation was observed in the South Stream project, which wasn't discussed with the EU as well and everybody is well aware of the results.
The most interesting thing is that all this is happening against the backdrop of the information saying that the European Commission is going to file charges against Gazprom on April 22 for the violation of anti-trust law. The division of the market, unfair gas prices, and hindering the purchase of fuel from the independent suppliers are among the suspected violations. If found guilty, the Russian monopolist can face multiple sanctions and who knows, how can this affect its gas supply to Europe in the future.
This is while the Southern Gas Corridor project fully complies with the EU Third Energy Package and Brussels has repeatedly expressed support to its implementation.
Apparently, Greece plays "dangerous games" instead of making every effort for the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project. These "games" are first of all dangerous for the energy security of Greece itself and the entire EU.
Edited by CN
Maksim Tsurkov is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
