PRESS: Greece offers Gazprom to invest 800 mln euros in coal proj

MOSCOW, Sep 13 (PRIME) -- Athens has offered Prometheus Gas, a joint venture of Russian gas giant Gazprom and Greece’s Copelouzos, to invest 700–800 million euros in the development of a coal field in the country’s north and expansion of a local power plant, Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday.

The deposit’s resources are estimated at around 140 million tonnes of coal, the daily said.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier in September that Gazprom was interested in developing a coal deposit in Greece. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Greece had offered Russia to create a joint venture for production of mineral resources.

Greece believes its proposal will allow to settle a long-lasting dispute on compensations connected with Athens’ incomplete fulfillment of an intergovernmental agreement on gas supplies signed with the Soviet Union in 1987.

Gazprom is studying the project’s economy, but doesn’t want to enter an unprofitable coal business and is not content with Athens expecting new investments from the company instead of paying the compensation, sources at the company said.

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