EU country will not abandon Russian gas – diplomat

Greece ramped up energy imports from Russia last year, statistics show

Moscow has not received any notification from Athens of its intention to pull out of contracts on gas supplies, the Russian ambassador to Greece, Andrey Maslov, told RIA Novosti on Thursday. On the contrary, the EU country started buying Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) last year, the envoy added.  

Natural gas, oil, and petroleum products dominated Greek imports from Russia in 2022, Maslov noted, citing data from the country’s statistics service.  

“Publicly, the Greek leadership speaks in favor of a complete abandonment of Russian gas, but it’s hard to say when Greece will have such an opportunity,” the diplomat said. 

He also pointed at valid long-term contracts between Gazprom Export, a unit of Russian energy giant Gazprom, and three Greek operators, stressing that the parties are in full compliance with their obligations.   

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“We haven’t received any signals that local structures are going to terminate these agreements before the scheduled date. On the contrary, last year in addition to pipeline gas supplied under existing contracts, Athens imported Russian LNG,” Maslov added.   

When asked to comment on a statement by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who claimed that his country could supply Ukraine with gas instead of Russia, the diplomat responded that “Greece does not produce its own natural gas,” adding that the development of local deposits is “in its embryonic stage.”  

According to Maslov, the remarks could refer to the idea of turning Greece into an energy hub from which gas would be transited to the Balkans and Eastern European countries, including Ukraine.

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