Greece Claims It Will Pay For Russian Gas Without Violating Sanctions

Greek Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas has claimed that the country will still pay for gas from Russian energy giant Gazprom but claimed the country will do so in a way that does not violate existing sanctions against Russia.

Minister Skrekas stated that the payment for April’s gas, paid for by the utility DEPA, would be paid on time on May 25th but refused to disclose which currency the payment for the gas would be made in.

“We will pay in a way which will not violate the sanctions and safeguard our country’s energy security,” Skrekas said and added, “Gazprom has proposed a way of payment. This has legal, financial and political aspects. We’ve been assessing all these aspects,” newspaper Ekathimerini reports.

The move comes after Gazprom cut off supplies to both Poland and Bulgaria after both failed to meet a deadline to pay for gas in Russian roubles, a demand set by President Vladimir Putin in response to western sanctions in March.

Greece is dependent on Russia for around 30 per cent of its gas needs and is locked into a contract with Gazprom until at least 2026.

Gazprom, whose bank was not part of the SWIFT system sanctions, has allowed countries to pay the bank in euros and dollars and then convert the currencies into roubles and put the roubles in a separate account owned by the buyer before the payment is made to Gazprom itself.

Greece has also promised to aid neighbouring Bulgaria after the country saw its gas supply cut off by Russia, with Prime Minister  Kyriakos Mitsotakis stating that Greece would actively help the country and another Greek official claiming moves had already been set in motion to provide Bulgaria with liquified natural gas.

Greece is also looking to complete a gas link between the two countries that had been previously delayed.

Germany, the largest importer of Russian gas, has been hesitant on calls by other European states to embargo Russian gas and on Thursday German energy firm Uniper stated that it would be using the Gazprom system to pay for Russian supplies.

“We consider a payment conversion compliant with sanctions law and the Russian decree to be possible,” a spokesman for the company told the BBC and added, “For our company and for Germany as a whole, it is not possible to do without Russian gas in the short term; this would have dramatic consequences for our economy.”

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.