Gazprom is believed to have a double geostrategic and business interest in the prospect of acquisition of a stake in gas company DEPA. The Russian interest under conditions was confirmed by the CEO of the company Alexander Medvedev, who didn’t rule out the possibility of participation in the privatization of DEPA, according to Ria Novosti.
“We’ll see under what conditions and what is offered by Greece for privatization”, said the official of the Russian giant.
This statement comes at a time, when the contacts have already initiated regarding the form of privatizations.
However, there are several outstanding issues to be clarified. This is the main reason why Gazprom stated that it could participate in the privatization, provided that the conditions would be satisfactory.
According to market sources, the sale of DEPA has geostrategic characteristics that could be crucial for Gazprom, as the sale of DEPA would be accompanied by the sale of Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator, which owns the gas pipelines networks.
Under this condition, the Russian company could acquire network access and therefore access to the Southern Corridor. Sources also state that Gazprom has set a strategic priority the control of new pipelines and the origin of the gas that passes through them.
Besides the geostrategic aspect, there is also a commercial side, as the Greek company is a customer of Gazprom, which supplies DEPA by 80% under a long-term contract. The contract expires in 2015, while DEPA has asked for discounting and term for spot prices.
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