Dendias says issue with Egypt’s block tender ‘essentially resolved’
Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias said that the issue that has arisen by Egypt’s recent start of a bid round for exploration and exploitation of oil and natural gas in 24 blocks is a “purely technical matter” that Greece considers as “essentially resolved.”
The round, which concludes on August 1, includes nine blocks in the Mediterranean Sea, 12 in the Western Desert and three in the Gulf of Suez.
Greece is concerned as one of the tendered blocks is located east of the 28th meridian and follows the southern borders of the Turkish continental shelf as outlined in the verbal communication to the United Nations on November 13, 2019.
“The issue raised by the Egyptian side’s recent announcement of blocks in the Eastern Mediterranean is a purely technical matter which concerns the Egyptian side,” Dendias said in a meeting with Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides in Larnaca on Monday. “Based on the posts of the Egyptian side, the Greek side considers the issue essentially resolved,” he added.
Dendias had met earlier with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukri in Cairo.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian foreign affairs ministry issued a statement after the meeting between Dendias and Shoukri referring to Egypt’s interest in facilitating the flow of Greek investments in the country.
