OREANDA-NEWS.  Following the official announcement on selection of SOCAR as Preferred Investor in the acquisition of 66% of shares in DESFA (Greek National Natural Gas System Operator), the official delegation of SOCAR has concluded familiarization trip to Athens.

 During the trip, SOCAR team held a number of meetings with the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Hellenic Republic, HRADF and DESFA. SOCAR was advised that next steps in the acquisition process will be the clearance with Court of Auditors of Hellenic Republic, which is expected to start early next week and will be conducted in parallel with necessary filings to the Regulatory Authority for Energy of Hellenic Republic and the European Commission. Both the Deputy Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Hellenic Republic - Mr Papageorgiou and advisors to HRADF, representing the CEO of the Fund - Mr Emiris have informed SOCAR about further steps in the process in details and exchanged opinions about the commitment of each party under the Greek legislation and the EU Third Energy Directive. SOCAR was also informed that HRADF will retain control of 66% of shares in DESFA until the change-in-control (CiC) takes place, and that the CiC is expected to occur after the final clearance is obtained from the European Commission, which is currently expected to take place during the second quarter of 2014. It was emphasized that the Seller will retain control of DESFA until then.

 In the meantime, the Seller has assured that both Parties will continue exchanging all the relevant information on DESFA's activities on a regular basis. Both SOCAR's delegation and the Seller confirmed that the terms and conditions set out in the Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) will be respected and that it always was the intention of both parties to act in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Greek and the EU legislation.