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| Alexis Tsipras flies to Moscow amid speculation of bailout from Putin | Alexis Tsipras flies to Moscow amid speculation of bailout from Putin |
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| Determined to take Greek-Russian relations out of “the deep freeze”, a defiant Alexis Tsipras flew to Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Vladimir Putin, ratcheting up the pressure on western creditors keeping debt-stricken Greece afloat. | |
| After speculation that Russia’s president might make an offer of financial help that the Greek prime minister will find hard to turn down, officials said the controversial trip should be seen through the prism of Athens’ leftist-led government doing “what is best for Greece”. | |
| They described the visit as being both “politically friendly and economically promising”. | |
| The two leaders, who hold formal talks and a working lunch on Wednesday, are expected to sign an array of accords, including a three-year plan to strengthen ties economically and commercially. | The two leaders, who hold formal talks and a working lunch on Wednesday, are expected to sign an array of accords, including a three-year plan to strengthen ties economically and commercially. |
| The Kremlin meeting is also expected to focus on EU sanctions against Russia, which Tsipras has publicly condemned as a “road to nowhere”. On Tuesday, Russia’s Kommersant business daily reported that a discount on gas deliveries was likely to be top of the agenda. Cash-strapped Greece imports 57% of its gas supplies from Russia. | The Kremlin meeting is also expected to focus on EU sanctions against Russia, which Tsipras has publicly condemned as a “road to nowhere”. On Tuesday, Russia’s Kommersant business daily reported that a discount on gas deliveries was likely to be top of the agenda. Cash-strapped Greece imports 57% of its gas supplies from Russia. |
| “We are ready to consider the issue of a gas price discount for Greece,” the newspaper reported, quoting an unnamed Russian government source. | “We are ready to consider the issue of a gas price discount for Greece,” the newspaper reported, quoting an unnamed Russian government source. |
| Moscow would also be willing to give Greece loans – just as it had done with Cyprus – on the condition that it had access to “certain assets in Greece”, the source said. | Moscow would also be willing to give Greece loans – just as it had done with Cyprus – on the condition that it had access to “certain assets in Greece”, the source said. |
| International creditors at the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund have pressed for a mass fire sale of Greek state properties, ranging from airports to ports, to help balance the books in Athens. | |
| Russia has expressed interest in Greece’s transport sector and the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki. Vasily Koltashov, a leftist economist at the Moscow-based Institute of Globalisation and Social Movements, told Kommersant that the Greek railway network, OSE, “could definitely be interesting for Russian business”, along with ports and tourist infrastructure. | |
| Western diplomats are concerned that Putin will exploit Athens to further Russia’s ambition of dismembering Europe. Tsipras criticism of EU sanctions imposed last year because of the Ukraine crisis could play into Putin’s hands. | |
| “There is also a political component because for Moscow it’s very important that Greece adopts a harder position in relations with Brussels over the sanctions against Russia,” Koltashov said. | “There is also a political component because for Moscow it’s very important that Greece adopts a harder position in relations with Brussels over the sanctions against Russia,” Koltashov said. |
| Tsipras brought forward his trip by a month, underscoring the significance his government gives to the fellow Orthodox Christian state. Top Russian officials, including the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, have publicly said Moscow would “positively examine” a Greek request for aid if one was made. | |
| Besides loans, Moscow could possibly offer to lift Russia’s embargo on Greek food products. Russia banned imports of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from the EU in August as part of its response to western sanctions. | |
| At the request of the Greek ministry of agriculture, Russian regulators will reportedly start inspecting dairy producers in Greece on 20 April for compliance with norms. | |
| The Russian agriculture minister, Nikolai Fyodorov, told journalists on Tuesday that the Moscow had discussed ending the embargo on food products from Greece, Hungary and Cyprus – which are noted for using softer rhetoric towards the Kremlin than other European countries. But he said a decision on this was unlikely to be made on Wednesday. | |
| Although eurozone leaders are playing down the Kremlin visit, the talks are bound to further alienate foreign lenders propping up the moribund Greek economy. | Although eurozone leaders are playing down the Kremlin visit, the talks are bound to further alienate foreign lenders propping up the moribund Greek economy. |
| Amid renewed scepticism over the Greeks’ ability to remain in the eurozone, Athens’ anti-austerity government has spent most of its two months in power fruitlessly trying to unlock €7.2bn (£5.3bn) in financial assistance from its €240bn bailout programme. | |
| “If there is no deal, and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow Europe apart, then we will have to go to plan B,” said Panos Kammenos, who heads the leftist-led administration’s junior rightwing partner Independent Greeks. A plan B would include Athens looking towards Russia, the US or China, he added. |