37523 - Ratification of the Agreement re: marine block 2

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Athina Kehagias

The Hellenic parliament ratified the Agreement with the Total, Edison and Hellenic Petroleum consortium, regarding marine block 2. We finally are passing through to the next stage and more so, with the acceptance of the political parties. Some had to experience it in order to believe it, but now it is enough to see it archived. This licensing round was officially issued in the European Union’s Journal back in 2014, and although this consortium was the only one which set claim for this marine block, we were waiting around till 2018 on acount of all the delays which the two previous Energean Ministers have consciously caused. The change occurred with the present Minister, who finally comprehended the value of the reserves we have within the Greek EEZ and so, he has passed through to the process of exploitation. It therefore constitutes an official justification for people such as Antonios Foskolos and Elias Conophagos who have been fighting for decades on, regarding this issue. The government has continued the work of the previous one, without of course making a clear statement re: the matter, but that doesn’t concern us at a national level. The bare fact is that we have a phase change regarding the Greek EEZ and it’s quite normal that some still can’t believe it, since the incredible remains unbelievable even after its implementation.