Egyptian Finance Minister Samir Radwan also said that the price of gas was not a matter for bargaining.
Egyptian Minister of Finance Samir Radwan told Kuwaiti newspaper "Al Anba" that the peace treaty with Israel does not obligate Egypt to sell natural gas to Israel. He added that the price of gas is not a matter of bargaining, regardless of the customer - Israel, Jordan, Syria, or Spain, and that Egypt would sell gas at the prevailing price.
Meanwhile, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is under investigation for allegedly giving his friend, Hussein Salem, the largest shareholder in East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), concessions and tax breaks for selling gas to Israel at low prices. One of the leaders of the movement that toppled Mubarak, Adv. Mohammad Al-Hazazi, told a local news portal, "Mubarak did not defend the Egyptian people, but defended the borders of Israel and supplied it gas to operate its war machine against the Arabs." He asserted that Mubarak agreed to sell gas to Israel at 15% below the global market price.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 1, 2011
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