Aygun Badalova, Baku, Azerbaijan
Greece plans to conclude the sale of its stake in natural gas grid operator DESFA to Azerbaijan's SOCAR by the end of the year, Reuters reported referring to Greece's energy minister Panos Skourletis.
The minister said that Greece, which signed a third international bailout last year, will get 188 million euros from the deal. Greece's biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum, which also owns 35 percent in DESFA, will get the rest.
Skourletis also said the government did not plan to sell a 35 percent stake in Greece's biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum or other energy companies in which the state holds a significant stake. He said the government did not intend to proceed with further privatizations in the energy sector.
SOCAR won a tender in 2013 on the purchase of a 66-percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros.
The European Commission started an inquiry into the compliance of the DESFA deal with the EU regulations in November 2014.
Currently, the deal is being considered by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition.
Earlier, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said that the deal on SOCAR's purchasing the 66-percent share in Greece's gas transmission system operator DESFA will be completed after Italy's Snam purchases 17 percent of that share.
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