Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-05-22

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] PM in meetings focusing on tax, energy and natural gas

[01] PM in meetings focusing on tax, energy and natural gas

The European Council will review progress in the completion of the internal energy market and in energy networks, the target being to put an end by 2015 to the isolation of EU member-states from European natural gas and electric energy networks. Moreover, the Council will focus on the need for investments in the energy sector. On the tax agenda, the European Council will also discuss the issue of tax evasion and tax fraud.

Samaras will be returning to Athens on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, his office said he was scheduled to meet with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who will be on a working visit to Greece.

On Tuesday, Samaras received Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, the head of the Russian energy giant and largest global producer of natural gas, at the government's headquarters in the Maximos Mansion. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Asimakis Papageorgiou, Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) CEO Yiannis Emiris and government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou.

According to an announcement issued by Gazprom, the two sides held talks on the "excellent cooperation in the sector of natural gas and expressed their interest in further developing mutually beneficial cooperation".

Gazprom is among the companies planning to bid in an international tender for the privatisation of the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA).

According to sources, Gazprom intends to submit a binding offer for DEPA but they did not specify whether agreement was reached on the demands made by the Russian side concerning the terms of the tender, such as the letter of guarantee required of participants and the debts toward DEPA.

The same sources said the talks with the government included discussion on the terms and prices for the supply of natural gas to Greece in the framework of an existing contract that expires in 2016.

Gazprom's announcement said that natural gas deliveries to Greece began in 1996 and, according to preliminary figures, total deliveries for 2012 came to 2.5 billion cubic metres.

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