Σταθάκης: Θέμα χρόνου η σταθερή τροφοδοσία της Ελλάδας με φυσικό αέριο από τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες

Δηλώσεις του Υπουργού Περιβάλλοντος και Ενέργειας, Γιώργου Σταθάκη, επικαλείται σε δημοσίευμά του το πρακτορείο Bloomberg. Μεταξύ άλλων ο Υπουργός υποστήριξε ότι είναι πλέον θέμα χρόνου η σταθερή τροφοδοσία της Ελλάδας και με φυσικό αέριο από τις ΗΠΑ.

«Οι συζητήσεις έχουν ξεκινήσει αναφορικά με ποσότητες και τιμή, οπότε το αποτέλεσμα είναι ζήτημα μηνών», τόνισε χαρακτηριστικά. Σχετικά με τις μεγάλες ενεργειακές εταιρείες όπου υπάρχει συμμετοχή του Δημοσίου, ο Υπουργός ανέφερε:

Ο Υπουργός πρόσθεσε πως για τα ΕΛΠΕ, «έχουν ολοκληρωθεί οι συζητήσεις με δυνητικούς αγοραστές σχετικά με την ΕΛΠΕ Upstream», προκειμένου το Δημόσιο να διατηρήσει πλειοψηφικό έλεγχο στη θυγατρική, ΕΛΠΕ Upstream, η οποία κατέχει τα δικαιώματα εκμετάλλευσης και παραχώρησης υδρογονανθράκων. 

Αναφορικά με τη ΔΕΠΑ, σημείωσε ότι μέχρι το τέλος Ιανουαρίου θα κατατεθεί στη Βουλή σχέδιο νόμου για τον διαχωρισμό της εταιρείας σε «ΔΕΠΑ Υποδομών» και «ΔΕΠΑ Εμπορίας», με το Δημόσιο να διατηρεί πλειοψηφικό πακέτο στην πρώτη.

Τέλος για την πώληση των λιγνιτικών μονάδων της ΔΕΗ, ανέφερε ότι αναμένονται δεσμευτικές προτάσεις το αμέσως επόμενο διάστημα, οι οποίες αφορούν τις μονάδες της Μελίτης και της Μεγαλόπολης.

Ακολουθεί το πλήρες κείμενο του Bloomberg:

Greece Inches Closer to Sales of Hellenic Petroleum and Depa (by Paul Tugwell and Eleni Chrepa)

Greece has crossed a key hurdle to the sale of a controlling stake in Hellenic Petroleum SA as it rushes to meet its privatization pledge after emerging from its third and final bailout.

In an interview, Energy Minister George Stathakis said Greece has reached an accord with potential buyers of the Hellenic Petroleum stake — valued at the current market price at 1.16 billion euros ($1.33 billion) and seen as a flagship privatization — over the control of its wholly owned unit, Elpe Upstream SA. Under the accord the state will own 50.1 percent of Elpe Upstream, which holds Hellenic Petroleum’s hydrocarbon exploration and concession rights.

“Talks with the potential buyers of the 50.1 percent stake in Hellenic Petroleum over Elpe Upstream have finished and all issues resolved,” Stathakis said in the interview in Athens. The push to see the sale through comes after Greece in August ended its final international bailout following its decade-long financial crisis. Privatizations, a cornerstone of the bailout program’s rebound plan, haven’t been popular with he leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Once famous for dragging its feet, the government is now interested in “stepping up the privatization drive,” Grigoris Stergioulis,chairman of Enterprise Greece, the nation’s trade and investment promotion agency, said in August.

Assets in addition to Hellenic Petroleum being prepared forsale include parts of Depa SA, Greece’s natural gas supplier, and plants owned by Public Power Corp. SA, the country’s state controlled and largest electricity provider.

Binding Offers

Greece’s state-asset sale fund qualified in July two investors for the controlling stake in Hellenic Petroleum — Glencore Energy UK Ltd and Vitol Holding BV — allowing them to continue with the process. The stake is being sold by Paneuropean Oil & Industrial Holdings SA and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, the refiner’s first and second- largest shareholders.

“While some details remain for the shareholders’ agreement, we expect binding offers on Jan. 28,” Stathakis said. The two companies have concluded their separate ventures for making bids, he said.

On Depa, Greece is preparing a draft law to split the natural gas supplier into two parts to pave the way for the sale of the company, Stathakis said. The law to create Depa Infrastructure and Depa Commercial, will be presented to parliament by the end of January, he said.

U.S. Foray

Greece will sell the majority of Depa Commercial, retaining a 15 percent stake. Depa Infrastructure will comprise the country’s gas network and international projects, including major investments in pipelines, and this part will remain under state control. Greece will invite investors to show interest in the sale during the first half. The state currently controls a 65 percent stake in Depa while Hellenic Petroleum owns the remaining 35 percent.

Depa’s purchase in December of the first cargo from Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas export terminal, the newest such outlet in the U.S., opens the way for the regular supply of U.S. LNG to Greece, the minister said.

“Discussions have begun concerning amounts and price and the outcome is a matter of months,” Stathakis said. Meanwhile, Public Power has approved an agreement for
investors to buy its lignite coal-fired plants in Melitis and Megalopolis, Stathakis said. The sale is part of an effort to meet the demands of Greece’s creditors for the company to reduce its dominance in the country’s electricity market. Binding offers are due shortly, Stathakis said.