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SOCAR buys Greek gas operator DESFA

20 June 2013 17:55 (UTC +04:00)

"The privatisation agency is very pleased, it's basically a done deal," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. HRADF may formally approve the sale as soon as on Thursday at its next board meeting.

A 35%t stake on sale is owned by refiner Hellenic Petroleum and the remaining 31% by Greece. This means that the debt-laden country would get about £188 million of the sale's total proceeds.

SOCAR was the sole bidder to buy DESFA after Russian energy company Sintez and Greek-Czech group PPF-Terna dropped out of the bidding earlier this month.

Greek energy officials have already said they were keen to seal the deal, which is part of the country's privatisation plan under its bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Athens also expects the DESFA sale to raise the chances of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), one of the two rival natural gas pipeline projects vying to become a conduit for Azeri gas to Western Europe.