Forbes: Russia's Gazprom Counting On...Greece?

Greece’s prime minister Alexis Tsipras has stepped up to help Turkey be the new Ukraine.  Tsipras and his Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis reportedly signed a “memorandum of cooperation” with Gazprom and the Russian government to help with a pipeline to Turkey that will diversify natural gas shipments to Europe away from Ukraine.  Greece will be a transit hub.

Tsipras was in Russia last week and photographed by reporters shaking hands with Russian president Vladimir Putin, announcing pledges to tilt Athens a wee bit more towards Moscow than Berlin.  Part of that promise includes allowing Russian natural gas pipelines to connect to Europe via Greece in what was once dubbed the South Stream project.  This is more of a real estate and political deal than an investment, as Greece is hardly a capital player in today’s market. Greece might not look like the perfect ally, but its geographic location will help Turkey and Russia gas companies get their goods to Europe.

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