Greece has pledged to reform its gas market in a 13-page set of proposals handed over to its European creditors.
The country also said it would open restricted professions including engineers, notaries and court bailiffs.
Yesterday, Greece revealed plans for a £2billion gas project with Russia.
The country’s energy minister Panayiotis Lafazanis said the move could create 20,000 jobs and bring 47 billion cubic metres of Gasprom’s gas into Europe.
However, critics of the South European Pipeline plan warn Greece’s vulnerable position could see it pulled into pipeline politics.
The plan’s big reveal follows the chief executive of Greece’s natural gas company, DEPA, telling an energy conference in Athens that the country’s supply was secure.
Chief executive Spyros Palaiogiannis said: “Taking into account the capabilities and restrictions in the banking system, DEPA has made provisions .. (and), it can guarantee the continued supply of the Greek market with natural gas.”
The 13-pager was submitted in a bid to secure a new three-year, EUR53.5billion bailout package to save the nation from bankruptcy.
The document revealed the Greek government would commit to ensuring primary surplus targets – where the government earns more in taxes than in spends – of 1% this year, 2% in 2016, 3% and 3.5% in 2017 and 2018.
Savings would be made by slashing military budgets, discouraging early retirement and scrapping tax breaks for the country’s islands.
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