In comments made in Greek radio, Stavridis said there were certain issues, such as a letter of guarantee.
"The Russians' initial letter of guarantee - at 20 pct of the first offer of 900 million euros - was extremely high," he said. "Thus, the value of the letter of guarantee was lowered to become more rational. Another big problem in the energy market is that because of the crisis everybody owes to everyone. It is the government's obligation and up to government will to find a solution to the problem."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.
(Combined Reports)
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