"There are agreements that envisage the process of reimbursement and arbitration in case the terms of agreements are not fulfilled," Kostis Khatzidhakis, who took over the ministerial post on January 7 when Russian gas supplies to Greece through Ukraine were suspended, told journalists.
Khatzidhakis held a conference in Athens on the current gas crisis with government officials. He said the possibility of legal action against Gazprom would be considered by the Greek Public Gas Corporation (DEPA).
The Greek gas company's head told an online publication earlier Wednesday that DEPA could sue Russian energy giant Gazprom for the suspension and subsequent shortfalls in Russian gas supplies to the country.
Makis Papageorgiou told Kathimerini that in line with DEPA's contract with Gazprom, the Russian company should pay for its failure to supply the required volumes of natural gas, adding that DEPA could "take legal action once supplies resume."
Papageorgiou said the compensation could amount to some 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
But DEPA spokesman Andreas Christodoulakis said Wednesday that the decision on a lawsuit against Gazprom could only be made at government level.
"DEPA is a state-run company, so all such decisions are made at the level of the Greek government," he said.
Gazprom gave the go-ahead on Tuesday morning to resume gas deliveries via Ukraine, halted January 7 over a dispute with Ukraine. However, no Russian gas was delivered through Ukraine to European consumers leading Moscow to accuse Kiev of blocking the gas deliveries.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko denied on Tuesday that Kiev was blocking Russian gas transits to Europe or stealing gas, following a failure by Russia to make a test delivery through Ukraine.
Papageorgiou said DEPA had received a letter from Gazprom which described the current situation as "an act of God," which gave the impression that Russia was not intending to compensate the company for the gas shortages.
Russia delivers about 6 million cu m of gas per day to Greece, around two-thirds of the country's consumption. Greece has made up for some of the shortfall in Russian gas through purchases of Azerbaijani gas delivered via Turkey, as well as liquefied gas from Algeria.
