The next Greek crisis: gas shortages

The Greek government’s hunger for cash has stripped the state-run gas company of most of its reserves, raising doubts about how long the country can pay for imports.

The DEPA gas company, along with all other public companies and pension funds, was ordered to place its cash reserves with the country’s central bank in April. Whether the government decides to replenish DEPA’s reserves remains unclear, but the government has already defaulted on a repayment to the International Monetary Fund and is, by all accounts, almost out of money.As European leaders restart talks Tuesday on a potential third bailout package for Greece, DEPA isn’t sure of what it will do next. If its coffers aren’t replenished soon, DEPA may have to ask its largest gas seller, Russia’s Gazprom, to revisit its terms of delivery.