Opposition leaders SYRIZA have issued slammed the upcoming privatization and sale of DESFA, the natural gas transmission system operator, to the Azeri firm SOCAR.
The opposition party is also skeptical about the government’s reluctance to provide any explanations regarding the one month delay from the announcement of the deal with SOCAR to the completion of the deal.
For SYRIZA “DESFA, just like DEPA, ELPE and DEI, are tools of exercising a national energy policy and as such are not for sale, nor can their price be bargained”.
The opposition party explained that while DESFA’s assets have been estimated to be worth 1.547 billion euros and the company’s managing director has praised its performance, the SOCAR offer of 400 million euros is “equal to giving it away”, based on the projected profits for the next five years.
SYRIZA concludes that Greece is finding itself “at the mercy of foreign interests” and is increasingly becoming dependant: “a country has geopolitical worth when it exercises independent foreign politics and when it facilitates friendship and good neighborliness. Unfortunately that is something we don’t see today”.
