Gazprom and Sintez decide to withdraw from Greek auction for DEPA and DESFA

After several months of intense negotiations, Russian Gazprom and Sintez have suddenly decided not to participate in the privatization of Greek gas assets. As a result, DEPA, to which Gazprom contended, will be put up for a new contest, and DESFA will go to Azerbaijani SOCAR. Gazprom explained its decision not to file an application for the participation in the DEPA privatization by “the absence of guarantees that the company’s financial condition won’t deteriorate by the moment of the deal conclusion”, and the Sintez Group preferred to keep silent.

The contest on the purchase of the Greek gas trader DEPA and the operator of the Greek gas transportation system DESFA took place yesterday. Companies, including Gazprom, Sintez, Azerbaijani SOCAR and the Greek M&M Gas and GEK Terna, were to submit bonding proposals to the privatization agency before 14:00 Moscow time. But, as the Greek Deputy Minister of Energy, Makis Papageorgiou reported, no one application was granted for DEPA. Because of that the contest will be held again. According to Papageorgiou, Sintez reported that it wouldn’t participate in the contest for DESFA yesterday morning. As a result, the only application for DESFA was submitted by SOCAR, sources that are familiar with the contest’s results, reported to the Kommersant.