US Amb. Pyatt: Greece has taken more steps than many other countries to reduce dependence on Russian natgas

The steps Greece has taken to become less dependent on Russian natural gas have placed it ahead of other European countries, the outgoing US ambassador to the country, Geoffrey Pyatt, said during a press briefing in Thessaloniki on Tuesday.

In his last official visit to Thessaloniki before completing his tenure in the east Mediterranean country, Pyatt said it would have been particularly useful for some of the larger European countries to have planned over the last decade as Greece did, in order not to rely on Russian natural gas imports.

In detailing these steps, he pointed to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline which now connects Greece with Azerbaijan fields, the Revythoussa LNG terminal on the same-name islet just off the port of Piraeus, and the soon-to-be-completed IGB interconnector with Bulgaria and the off-shore storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) in the extreme northeast port city of Alexandroupolis.

“The LNG market is global. The gas will go wherever the market sends it,” he said, and “from this viewpoint, our interest in Greece is not primarily commercial.” As the world’s largest LNG exporter, the United States has a strong tradition in collaborating with corresponding companies in Greece and supports both “the absolutely right agenda” of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the field of energy transition.

Large segments of the European economy, in which the industrial model is centered on natural gas imports from Russia – including Bulgaria and the western Balkan states – “are now realizing a lot more clearly after February 24 that they do not want Russia to be their sole supplier,” he said, referring to the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

In terms of energy projects in northern Greece, the US ambassador said they are important for the entire region, not just for Greece, but he also expressed concern that the slow privatization process through the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) might lead to investors losing interest.

Asked to comment on developments in Ukraine – where he served as the US ambassador in Kiev between 2013 and 2016 – Pyatt said:

“I have no idea where this will all end up. But I know it will end up in [Russian leader] Vladimir Putin’s defeat, and that Russia will be a lot weaker because of Putin’s choices,” but Ukraine will be more united and devoted to its European process.

Pyatt, among the longest-serving US ambassadors to Greece, was appointed to Athens in September 2016 and is leaving the post in less than a month.