Greece will not privatize gas company DEPA, according to Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis. Lafazanis, as cited by RIA Novosti, declared after a Wednesday meeting with trade union representatives at DEPA and DESFA that DEPA had to and would remain under public ownership and control, adding that the state would seek to control a majority stake in gas transmission system operator DESFA. Lafazanis was adamant that DEPA would not be sold, regardless of who was interested in the deal. An attempt to sell DEPA failed in 2013 after Russian energy giant Gazprom did not submit a binding offer in the final stage of the competition. As regards DESFA, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) bought a 66% stake in it in 2013, but the European Competition Commission has not yet cleared the deal due to an ongoing investigation into its compatibility with EU anti-trust rules.
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