ATHENS, May 9 (Reuters) – Greece and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed on Monday to jointly finance investments worth 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in the Mediterranean country and to explore further cooperation in the energy sector, announced the office of the Greek Prime Minister. mentioned.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations as well as the impact of the war in Ukraine, his office said.

“The renewal of the fruitful collaboration between the Hellenic Development Bank and Mubadala Investment Company and the creation of a joint initiative for investments worth 4 billion euros is of crucial importance”, he said. he declares.

Mitsotakis said there was room for further cooperation between the European Union and the United Arab Emirates on renewable energy.

“Due to its geographical position, Greece has the potential to become a natural gas gateway from the Middle East to Europe,” Mitsotakis added. “We would like to explore possibilities for further strategic cooperation and the involvement of UAE funds in this direction.”

The two countries on Monday signed nine agreements on technology, energy and health, among other sectors.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Motor Oil Hellas Corinth Refineries have agreed to explore liquefied natural gas supply opportunities in Greece, which could include a floating storage and regasification unit off Athens.

Motor Oil and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) have also agreed to develop offshore wind farms and other renewable energy projects in Greece.

As part of its efforts to increase the share of renewable energy in energy consumption to 35% by 2030 from about 23% currently, Athens wants to install offshore wind farms capable of generating 2 gigawatts by 2030, with necessary investments estimated at 6 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9488 euros)

Reporting by Renée Maltezou; Additional reporting by Angeliki Kotantou; Editing by Mark Potter and Leslie Adler

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