Greece confirms 10-year extension of gas supply deal with Russia’s Gazprom
Greece’s natural gas distributor DEPA has clinched a new gas supply deal with Russian energy giant Gazprom, which includes a 15 percent price cut backdated to last July, Greece’s energy ministry said on Tuesday.
The new agreement extends a current deal between the two companies by 10 years to 2026, the energy ministry said in a statement, confirming what sources told Reuters last week.
Gazprom is the biggest supplier of state-run DEPA. The two sides have been negotiating for months, with DEPA seeking a cut of between 15 and 20 percent in the gas supply price and threatening to go to arbitration if there is no agreement.
The new deal provides for a more flexible take-or-pay agreement to supply DEPA with between 2.5 and 3 billion cubic metres of natural gas each year. The new gas price is linked to the one for oil and is below $400 per 1,000 cubic metres, according to a source directly involved in the talks.
Greece is keen to reduce its industry’s energy costs to help to shield it from the impact of the country’s deep recession that has led to a wave of corporate bankruptcies and sent unemployment to 28 percent. [Reuters]
