A meeting today in Sochi between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with Russian President Vladimir Putin – their first as heads of state – will made clear if preceding negotiations between officials of the two countries have come to anything for an improved Gazprom gas supply contract for Greek gas utility DEPA in 2022.

Any improvement for DEPA is regarded as a challenging task and would represent a major surprise if pulled off, given the unfavorable conditions, internationally.

The Greek Prime Minister is seeking an improved gas supply deal from Russia, the country’s main supplier, in an effort to boost support offered to Greek households and industry, struggling in the energy crisis, through further energy cost discounts.

Russia currently supplies 45 percent of natural gas consumed in Greece as well as nearly 10 percent of the country’s crude oil.

DEPA’s agreement with Russia’s Gazprom Export, its main supplier, expires in 2026 but is subject to annual talks concerning pricing formula and take-or-play clause revisions.

The Russian side has pushed for the 2022 agreement with DEPA to be fully indexed to the Dutch TTF gas index, but this index has risen 500 percent since last year, prompting Greek officials to resist.

According to energypress sources, Russia has maintained a tough stance in its negotiations with Greek officials, as was highlighted at a meeting yesterday in Saint Petersburg between Greek energy minister Kostas Skrekas and Gazprom’s chief executive Alexey Miller over the pricing formula to apply for Russian gas supply to Greece in 2022.

Greek officials want to avoid a DEPA-Gazprom agreement that is fully indexed to the Dutch TTF gas index and are believed to be aiming for a TTF pricing coefficient of between 60 and 70 percent, which would enable an oil-indexed price for the other 30 to 40 percent.