Athens hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of the Republic of Greece. The parties addressed the main areas and prospects for the Russian-Greek cooperation in the gas sector.
The meeting pointed out the need to diversify natural gas supply routes to Europe and the prominent role of a new gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey, which is expected to considerably increase the European energy security.
The parties agreed that a Russian-European consortium could be responsible for building the necessary gas pipeline in Greece, an extension to the planned Turkish Stream project that will take Russian gas under the Black Sea. Alexey Miller stressed that the EUR 2 billion project would be delivered in full compliance with the European law.
Ultimately, this project will guarantee the transit of up to 47 billion cubic meters of gas from Gazprom, and that will provide Greece with external funds for other projects.
“The Greek Government supports the project and today we have no doubts that the Russian-European consortium will fully finance it,” said Alexey Miller .
Russian natural gas supplies to Greece started in 1996. According to provisional estimates, Gazprom delivered 1,745 billion cubic meters of gas to Greece in 2014.
On December 1, 2014 Gazprom and Turkish Botas signed the Memorandum of Understanding on constructing an offshore gas pipeline across the Black Sea towards Turkey. Stretching for 1,100 kilometers, a four string gas pipeline will have a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters and will convey up to 47 billion cubic meters of gas to the Turkish-Greek border.