28507 - The contract with the triple consortium

E. Conophagos, N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Athina Kehagias

The contract regarding the triple consortium, of Greek Petroleum – Edison – Total should take place as quickly as possible and in an effective manner at that. We can no longer afford to lose this agreement and we shoudn’t waste time due to bureaucracy. There are official deadlines and it would be unacceptable for us not to abide by them, as it’s a matter of Greece’s dignity and not merely that of a government. Within this negotiation we ought to function nationally rather than ideologically of course, since our homeland needs to finally enter this context, which of course functions complementary to the growth and developments in the Eastern Mediterranean. The contract issue belongs to the possibility of Greece’s recovery and not merely it’s growth. The Greek EEZ through marine block 2 indicates the path for other agreements and contracts as well. Consequently, this contract must be paradigmatic in order to set an example for the next moves. In this sense it serves no purpose to view this contract as an isolated case. And an error will surely have consequences towards other cases in the future. Additionally, we shouldn’t forget that due to bureaucratic problems regarding the large licensing round, we had only one nomination re: this marine block, so let’s not waste it therefore with the wrong moves.