EastMed deal foresees clause for protection of pipeline
The intergovernmental agreement on the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline that will be signed by Greece, Cyprus and Israel in Athens on Thursday contains provisions on measures to protect the pipeline, government sources said.
The relevant provision of Article 10 of the deal is considered very important as such clauses are not included in similar agreements, the same sources said.
The trilateral agreement will be signed at 6.30 p.m. by Greek Environment and Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Israeli counterpart Yuval Steinitz and Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, in the presence of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Other important elements in the deal include the regulatory-licencing framework for facilitating the project and the common taxation framework that governs it, the prospect of incorporating additional countries, and the prospect of transferring additional quantities of natural gas from existing or new reserves that may be found in the future.
It is noted that the preliminary technical study on the pipeline also foresees the transfer of quantities of natural gas from the reserves south of Crete, if any are discovered.
