A project to send American liquefied natural gas through Greece to Eastern Europe, meant to help cut the region's dependence on Russian energy, faces sabotage from commercial rivals in the United States and Greece, the executive leading it warned.
Alexandros Exarchou, chairman and CEO of the AKTOR Group, one of Greece's largest companies, said some U.S. competitors of Venture Global, the American supplier behind the project, would prefer to ship gas through Turkey.
There, he said, U.S. LNG could be blended with cheaper Russian gas, which the European Union has banned.
"There is a risk, no doubt about it," Mr. Exarchou told the Green Deal Greece 2026 conference in Athens. He added that some Greek business interests, long involved in trading Russian gas, also oppose the project.
The stakes reach beyond Greece.
The route, known as the Vertical Corridor, is designed to move gas north through the Balkans to countries that until recently relied mostly on Moscow.
For Washington, it opens a market in Europe for U.S. gas. For Athens, it offers a role as an energy gateway and more weight in the region.
For Moscow and Ankara, it is competition.
Mr. Exarchou also heads Atlantic SEE LNG Trade, owned 60% by AKTOR and 40% by the state-controlled DEPA Commercial. The company has signed supply deals with Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina and is in talks with other countries.
He said the 20-year fixed-price supply deal it signed with Venture Global last November now looks like a bargain compared with current prices, and that the Greek state has no obligation to buy any of the gas.
The warning comes as Europe faces an energy squeeze. A Middle East war has disrupted supplies from Qatar, and European gas prices have risen to their highest levels since 2022.
Mr. Exarchou predicted rising inflation and interest rates this winter.
He urged the EU to issue joint bonds immediately rather than in February, warning that delay would cost more and could carry serious political consequences.
"Europe cannot swap dependence on Russian gas for dependence on American gas," he said, predicting that a balance between the two would eventually be needed.