A joint venture of Greece’s DEPA Commercial and the AKTOR Group said it took part in Monday’s annual 2026-2027 auction for the Vertical Corridor, the pipeline route intended to carry natural gas north from the Aegean into the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The venture, Atlantic See LNG Trade (AS LNG), said the capacity it booked came to roughly 13,000 MWh per day, or about 4.7 TWh on an annual basis.

The joint venture said its participation sends a positive signal for the corridor and gives the route greater commercial appeal and operational effectiveness. It described the move as a clear sign that it is pursuing short-term deals to supply the wider region with American LNG through the corridor before 2030.

That timeline was set out days earlier at a news conference given by Alexandros Exarchou, chief executive of AS LNG, and Konstantinos Xifaras, the company’s chairman, where Xifaras had signaled the venture would take part in the auctions.

Greece as an entry point

At the same event, Exarchou and Xifaras argued that Greece has an opening, sharpened by the war in the Middle East, to develop into an energy hub for the region and for Europe more broadly. They pointed to the momentum behind the Vertical Corridor and stressed the strategic energy alliance between Greece and the United States, particularly in LNG.

The two executives said deeper transatlantic cooperation and the build-out of the Vertical Corridor are creating a new strategic reality for Europe. They argued that, by drawing on its infrastructure, geographic position and international partnerships, Greece is emerging as a key entry point for LNG and a factor in the energy security and supply diversification of Southeastern and Central Europe.