ATHENS, October 28. /TASS/. Gas supplies from Russia cover 40-42% of Greece's needs, a source in the Greek gas market told TASS.

"Currently, the volume of deliveries [of pipeline natural gas] from the Russian Federation, depending on the day and month, accounts for about 40-42% of the local market, in this respect practically nothing has changed in Greece," the expert said.

"It is expected that by the end of the year the Greek market will fall to 16-18%, and even now the batches of liquefied natural gas (LNG) arriving here do not replace the share of Russian gas, as they are exported [via the gas pipeline] to neighboring Bulgaria, which has been without Gazprom gas," the expert added.

According to statistics, the physical volume of gas deliveries from Russia to Greece for the last eight months has decreased by approximately 10%, but their cost has increased almost four times - from $540 million to $2 billion.

"Yes, approximately, that's how it is, but the market of Greece is now diversified. The 10% decrease in supplies from Russia is due to the fact that the market has now declined, and domestic consumption has decreased," the source said.

"Meanwhile the government of Greece is stimulating not the consumption of natural gas but of oil products for heating. Also, a power station, which generates electricity on the basis of lignite is already working. In general, the consumption of other sources has increased," the source added.

According to the industry expert, "currently, due to the large number of booked LNG cargoes, Greek operators and gas importers have to sell this LNG at significantly low prices".

"So, consumers already choose which gas to buy - either as part of long-term contracts, or on the local energy exchange, which makes it possible sometimes, on some days, to buy gas at a lower price," he said.

The market participant explained that the energy exchange had been launched in Greece this summer.

"It makes it possible for operators or importers of gas to sell free volumes, and for buyers to regulate their needs at the expense of exchange goods, long-term contracts or spot deals with their suppliers," he said.

"That means that consumers have the opportunity to diversify their portfolio. However, a 10% reduction in Russian gas consumption in Greece, if we take the overall balance of Gazprom's gas cuts in Europe in general, is an absolute trifle. This did not have a significant impact on the total export volume of Gazprom. Naturally, the supply volumes via Nord Stream and other directions decreased much more, which had a significant impact on Gazprom's export volumes. Therefore, these 10% in Greece are absolutely insignificant," the source concluded.

Three main importers of Russian natural gas in Greece are: the state-owned gas company DEPA Commerce, Mytilineos, and Prometheus Gas. They all continue to pay Gazprom in accordance with the new pattern of settlements with Gazprombank, which was introduced in the spring, the expert noted.

"Yes, nothing has changed here. In fact, other countries also pay [for gas] under this pattern. We transfer [payments to the Russian Federation] into euros, then the euros are converted into rubles on the Russian stock exchange and automatically go to Gazpromexport’s account. This is a standard pattern that was proposed this spring. It works," the market participant said.