Greece Says SOCAR to Extend DESFA Letter of Guarantee
Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR has agreed to extend by a month a letter of guarantee for its acquisition of Greece's gas network operator DESFA, the office of the Greek prime minister said on Tuesday.
SOCAR's purchase of a 66 percent stake in DESFA, penned in 2013, had hit snags when European Union competition watchdogs ordered it to dispose a 17 percent stake in the operator.
It had further been complicated this year when Greece passed a law raising DESFA's gas tarriffs at a lower amount than SOCAR expected, potentially eating into any profit margins from the venture.
(Reporting By Angeliki Koutantou and Renee Maltezou)
