Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L). File photo EPA/BGNES
Russia's Gazprom, Italy’s Edison and Greece’s DEPA will make a cost efficiency assessment of potential supplies of Russian gas under the Black Sea to Italy and Greece by the end of the year, the Chief Executive Officer of the Russian gas giant, Alexey Miller, has said.
A memorandum of understanding on possible gas supplies through a pipeline from Russia under the Black Sea and via third countries in the direction of Greece and - at a later stage - to Italy by end-2016 had been signed in Rome, TASS quoted Miller as saying at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.
“We and our European partners have as a starting point the so-called Poseidon project drafted at the time by our colleagues from Greece, Italy and France,” Miller added.
The Poseidon project has been designed to carry 12 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Azerbajan to Greece and under the Ionian Sea to southern Italy.
"Third countries" could mean either Bulgaria or Turkey. They are the only two countries bordering both the Black Sea and Greece.