DEPA to break with Gazprom?

Negotiations between DEPA Commercial and Gazprom are at a pivotal point, which may lead to arbitration or even a complete stop in Russian gas imports. Their outcome will also determine the future of the Greek gas company.

DEPA has a contract with Gazprom that expires in 2026 for natural gas quantities of 2 billion cubic meters per year, or 22 terawatt-hours, with a take-or-pay clause for a minimum amount of absorption of 17 TWh per year. That is, DEPA will pay for these quantities, whether it receives them or not.

The object of the multi-month negotiations are the take-or-pay clauses - the cost of which run to approximately 400 million euros for DEPA in total for 2021-2022 - but also the price of natural gas supply, which after the last revision of the contract on 2021 is linked 80% to the price of gas in the Dutch TTF and 20% to the price of oil.

The Greek...