The nation of Greece is in total turmoil, with an IMF payment default already under their belt, and massive riots proliferating the country, the last days for the Southern European country in the Eurozone could be close at hand. Yet even with chaos reigning throughout the region, members of the Greek government are now in St. Petersburg finalizing an agreement that will bring a pipeline into their country, and provide needed revenues as a gateway to Europe for energy sent through the Turkstream route.
And with this agreement could be the beginning of a new alliance between Russia, Greece, and the BRICS.
Greece is expecting to sign a preliminary agreement for the country’s participation in Russia’s planned extension of a gas pipeline through Greek territory, Greek energy ministry officials said Thursday.
Meanwhile, Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom said it had reached a preliminary deal with three European energy companies to double the capacity of a gas pipeline that takes Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
State-controlled Gazprom said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Royal Dutch Shell, Germany’s E. ON and Austria’s OMV AG to add two lines to the Nord Stream pipeline, opened in 2011 as part of a Russian strategy to circumvent transit countries such as Ukraine.
The potential Greek-Russian agreement, which wouldn’t be legally binding, is expected to be signed Friday during Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ visit to an economic conference in St. Petersburg. - Wall Street Journal
It is already clear that Germany and the Troika will not budge on their demands for further austerity measures to re-do the debt, and perhaps even provide new funding for an insolvent Greece. But while the rhetoric continues to fly from both sides of the aisle, Prime Minister Tsipris appears not to be sitting by idly, and is leaving open several options that might include a return to the Drachma, and a full on alliance with BRICS for new trade and economic programs.
The coming pipeline agreement with Russia is a life jacket to Greece, and a major thorn in the side for Europe. For this partnership would be only the beginning, where future agreements could expand into port leasing right on the border of NATO, and even a huge free trade zone right on the edge of the entire Eurozone.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr is a writer for Secretsofthefed.com, Examiner.com, Roguemoney.net, and To the Death Media, and hosts the popular web blog, The Daily Economist. Ken can also be heard Wednesday afternoons giving an weekly economic report on the Angel Clark radio show.
