Possible deal between Athens and Moscow: Greece hopes for Russian pipeline billion {http://bit.ly/1cLXXdu}
Already on Tuesday could Russia and Greece to SPIEGEL ONLINE information sign a pipeline agreement. Athens expects billion revenue. The Kremlin stressed that there was no financial assistance.
Greece relies on money from Russia to gain room for maneuver in debt dispute. The governments in Athens and Moscow are planning an agreement, which involves billions. Contracts for a pipeline project with the name Turkish stream could be signed this coming Tuesday, said a senior SYRIZA man SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Turkish Stream would bring Russian gas to Europe from 2019, lead the line by Greece. Whether the pipeline will be built or can not say. The project would definitely take years to complete, and it should withstand critical scrutiny of the EU.
Whether the plans are ever implemented, is for the Greek government currently but secondary. Athens expects shortly to get three to five billion euros of Russia - as an advance on future profits that could take the country by the transit fees.
Back numbers would not need the money the Greeks before 2019, ie the date on which the pipeline will be put into operation. If the project should be abandoned, the payment from Moscow could be interpreted to be a secret loans. Athens also hopes to further positive effects: The project could arise 20,000 jobs - and falling gas prices in the country.
The Kremlin responded on Saturday afternoon on SPIEGEL ONLINE report. The spokesman of President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said they had not offered any financial help Greece, because it was therefore not asked. But "natural" would have the "energy cooperation" discussed during their meeting in Moscow, Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last week. These discussions would now be continued at the employee level.
How close is Greece from bankruptcy?
Greece desperately needs new money, the country facing bankruptcy. If there is no compromise with international donors reached, the government must soon decide: use debt or pay wages and pensions? They officially denied, however, that she ran out of money.
According to information obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE almost all payments in the public sector are already frozen, which are not absolutely necessary: wages for civil servants to contract payments to suppliers of the Greek army. In this situation, payments from Russia would be a welcome help.
Russia wants Ukraine to deal with Turkish Music from 2019 as a transit country for its gas. President Putin had presented the plan during a visit to Ankara in 2014. The planned pipeline would reach Greece from Turkey and about 450 km run through the country, before it leads to Macedonia.
Some analysts think the project is unrealistic. It could also fail as previously planned by Russia South Stream pipeline . This should lead gas from Russia through the bottom of the Black Sea to Bulgaria. The project was abandoned in late 2014 after disputes between Russia and the EU. ( Click here for important questions and answers about South Stream .)
Brussels is also the new project skeptical about the feasibility and fears that Russia would disagreement between the EU countries stoke.
SYRIZA wants energy policy "without prejudice"
The Greek Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, leader of the left wing SYRIZA, argues that Russia is central to Europe's energy supply. Last week he said at a meeting in Lithuania that Greece pursues an independent and open energy policy, "to build without prejudice and without walls that isolate certain countries".
In a radio interview Lafazanis criticized the attitude of Germany. It wanted by the expansion of the Baltic pipeline establish a monopoly on gas transmission in Europe. He can understand the reaction of the Western European countries, but Greece should not continue to behave like a banana republic.
During his visit to Moscow Putin and Greek Prime Minister had Alexis Tsipras talked about the Turkish Stream project, the Athens preferably referred to as "Greek pipeline". The cooperation between the two countries on energy issues could also be extended to the oil sector. Athens hopes that Russian companies apply for drilling projects in the Ionian Sea, off the southeast coast of Crete.
On April 7, Foreign Minister of Greece Nikos Kotzias had also discussed in Budapest with his counterparts from Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey's pipeline plans. The Ministers therefore supported the establishment of an economically viable alternative for the forwarding of natural gas by their states in the Central and Eastern European countries.
In sum, Russia and Greece could in the coming days to sign an agreement that provides for the construction of a new pipeline - the project's Turkish stream, because the lines will lead via Turkey to Greece. The deal could bring three to five billion euros Athens. However, some analysts think the project is unrealistic.