The Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is expected to be in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku on Tuesday, to sign the final investment agreement that will supply the TAP with natural gas from the Shah Deniz II gas field.
Mr. Samaras’ presence, amidst critical troika negotiations, reflects the importance of the upcoming Southern Corridor (which includes the Trans Adriatic Pipeline) for Greece. Also present at the ceremony will be current EC president Jose Barroso, also indicating a change in the geopolitical and financial relations of Europe with Caucasian republic.
The European Commission recently requested Azerbaijan to sign a bilateral agreement in order to ensure that the European legislation regarding the third energy package will be observed. Amongst the main provisions is that the owner of a network cannot simultaneously be its operator. This means that SOCAR will not be able to trade natural gas in the Greek market.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change, the new Commission demand is a time-consuming process, which will not be complete before next July. While it has been suggested that the Commission is being hesitant with the Azeri firm, the Commission is primarily trying to limit the reach of Russian energy giant Gazprom, which has an ever-increasing influence on its European customers.
