Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas company SOCAR is seeking a price cut for the acquisition of a stake in Greek natural gas transmission network operator DESFA.
The sale of a majority stake in DESFA is part of Greece's international bailouts. The deal was first announced in December 2013 with SOCAR acquiring a 66% stake from the Greek state and Hellenic Petroleum for around €400m. However, the European Commission expressed concerns about the deal and has been reviewing it. SOCAR would buy the 66% stake and then divest at least 17% either to the Greek state or a third entity to address the EU's concerns so that SOCAR's stake would not exceed 49% in DEFSA. In addition, the July 2016 increase in DESFA's regulated gas tariffs was much lower than expecting, reducing further SOCAR's interest.
SOCAR remains committed to the gas deal and Italian gas network operator Snam is still interested in acquiring 17%. The deal is expected to be completed soon.