Ekathimerini: Samaras asks Putin to help lower gas prices

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has written to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it emerged on Monday, to ask for gas giant Gazprom to reduce the price at which it supplies Greece, which pays roughly 30 percent more than the European average for its natural gas.

Sources said that in his letter, which was sent a few weeks ago, Samaras stressed the importance of energy prices in helping Greece become more competitive.Greece’s current contract with Gazprom runs through 2016.

In January, the Russian company supplied Greece at a price of 35.34 euros per megawatt hour, which was the highest in Europe, when Bulgaria, which receives the second-dearest gas, was paying 29.94 euros. Samaras set the Bulgarian price as a benchmark, urging Gazprom to at least match the price it has agreed with Sofia.  MORE