PM Samaras meets with Azerbaijan's president Aliyev in Baku
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Friday and discussed the collaboration of the two countries in energy, as Greece is the Asian country's most important strategic partner in Europe.
Among others, they talked about the possibility of increasing the supply of Azerbaijani natural gas to Greece in the case that supply was disrupted due to the crisis in Ukraine. The issue was raised by Samaras and Aliyev agreed that the technical aspects should be discussed further by the appropriate ministers from both countries.
In addition to their 20-minute meeting, Samaras and Aliyev had a more extended discussion over a dinner hosted by Azerbaijan's president. During their talks, they agreed that Greece is emerging as an energy hub in southeastern Europe and emphasised the important role of the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline.
The two leaders also reviewed the bilateral agreements signed in the energy sector and procedures for implementing the TransAdriatic Pipeline (TAP) within the existing deadlines, as well as the progress in the privatisation of Greece's Natural Gas System Operator DESFA via the transfer of a 66 pct share to Azerbaijan's SOCAR.
With regard to DESFA, the European Commission is expected to give the official go-ahead for the deal and confirm that it is compatible with European energy laws by September 29, at which time the relevant procedures can move forward. During the meeting, Samaras and Aliyev agreed to speed up the work and make an effort to overcome any bureaucratic problems.
Azerbaijan's president, referring to events on Saturday, said this would be an important anniversary and a new start of Azerbaijan. He also briefed Samaras on the discussions on energy issues held with other foreign leaders attending the events in Baku.
After the meeting between Aliyev and Samaras, there followed a meeting of delegations from each country. On the Greek side this was attended by Environment, Climate and Energy Minister Yiannis Maniatis, Deputy Energy Minister Assimakis Papageorgiou and government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi, who accompanied Samaras to Baku.
On Saturday, Samaras and the Greek delegation will attend an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Shah Deniz natural gas field agreements and a special event on the Southern Corridor pipeline network, where new drilling will be formally begun. The events will also be attended by delegations from Turkey, Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia and UK.
Samaras will also have meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the events.
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