Qatar withdrew its interest in investing in the western Greek port of Astakos via a letter from the Arab state’s Energy Ministry to the Greek government yesterday. The letter suggested that the two Qatari state companies involved in the project, which had agreed earlier this year on an estimated 10-billion-euro plan to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and an electricity plant at the port, had deemed the investment was not in their interest.
A Skai Television report suggested that no agreement had been reached on the price of LNG between the Qatar officials and the Italians, who would have received 70 percent of the LNG quantities from the terminal. Athens maintained that the withdrawl of Qatar’s interest in Astakos was a corporate development and will not affect the memorandum of cooperation signed last month between the governments of Greece and Qatar for the investment of 5 billion euros in Greece.