Greece welcomes SOCAR’s bid for DEPA privatization
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijan and Greece discussed a wide range of issues and agreed on deepening bilateral economic cooperation during a two-day official visit of Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos to Baku on April 29-30.
Avramopoulos said at a briefing after a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov that Greece welcomes the aspiration of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR to take part in the privatization of the Greek public gas corporation DEPA.
Greece is open for investments and invites Azerbaijani investors to the country, he added.
SOCAR is one of the participants in the DEPA privatization tender. The Azerbaijani energy company's interest in the privatization is based on the fact that DEPA works with gas distribution networks and conducts other gas operations in Greece.
The contest for the DEPA purchase is due May 10. Opening of bids had been repeatedly put off. Last time it was expected to be held on April 12, but it was postponed again.
Avramopoulos said he had discussed with the Azerbaijani government a number of issues on bilateral cooperation.
The Greek foreign minister also noted that a Baku-Athens direct flight, which is to open soon, will bring the two countries closer.
Mammadyarov, in turn, said that the energy cooperation between Greece and Azerbaijan has a great potential for expansion. He said there are no political problems for developing the cooperation between the two countries.
According to Mammadyarov, Azerbaijan and Greece intend to increase their trade turnover to $1 billion.
"The talks were constructive," Mammadyarov said. "We discussed the possibility of increasing the trade turnover volume up to one billion dollars."
He also said the sides had discussed future cooperation in light of the Greek presidency of the European Union.
According to Avramopoulos, the history of cooperation between the two countries after Azerbaijan gained independence is over 20 years old and this visit is special.
"We held effective negotiations. We discussed international relations and the priorities of Greece during the next presidency of the EU," Avramopoulos said.
According to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan, in 2012, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to over $849 million.