Greece, Azerbaijan aim for strategic gas cooperation

(DPA) -- Greece and Azerbaijan will aim for closer "strategic gas cooperation" in the future, the presidents of the two countries said Monday.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias said the planned cooperation is of "strategic immportance" to both countries following talks with his visiting Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

A deal to transfer the majority stake of up to two-thirds of Greece's natural gas transmission network operator DESFA to Azeri state company SOCAR is expected to be completed by August.

The sale is connected to the planned 3,500 kilometer Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). In June 2013, the Azerbaijani gas consortium Shah Deniz II announced plans to pump its gas through the TAP pipeline to Western Europe.

Brussels has expressed hope that the project, considered a key instrument for diversifying energy supplies to the European Union, will be implemented by 2019 and decrease its dependency on Russian gas.

The project envisions transporting Azerbaijani gas by pipelines via Turkey and Greece to Albania and Italy to other European markets.

Currently nearly 60 per cent of Europe's gas needs are covered by Russian gas.

Bakudaily.az