The Office of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has agreed to extend a letter of guarantee for its acquisition of Greek natural gas transmission system operator DESFA.
SOCAR’s letter of guarantee was due to expire at the end of September, and the company previously said that it would proceed with the acquisition only if the cost agreed in 2013 was cut significantly, because the situation on the market has also changed since December 2013. The statement from the PM’s Office said that PM Tsipras and SOCAR’s President Rovnag Abdullayev have met in Athens on Tuesday and agreed that the letter of guarantee should be extended by another month, during which time both sides will hold talks in order to reach a mutually beneficial solution.
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Tags: acquisition, Azerbaijan, DESFA, gas, Greece, letter of guarantee, privatization, Snam, SOCAR