EGL

"The Swiss energy trading company EGL said it signed a multibillion-dollar contract to buy natural gas from Iran over the next 25 years." (The Washington Post, International Briefing,  3/8/08) (http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/iht/search/?iht)

BERLIN – Swiss energy giant EGL’s €18 billion gas contract with Iran prompted criticism on Tuesday from the US Embassy. “As we noted in the past when this deal was first announced, oil and gas deals with Iran send the wrong message when Iran continues to defy UN Security Council resolutions. We have raised our concerns with the Swiss government about this arrangement on multiple occasions,” a spokesman for the embassy in Bern told The Jerusalem Post in an e-mail. “US law [the Iran Sanctions Act, as amended by the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act] provides for sanctions for certain investments that contribute to Iran’s ability to develop and transport its petroleum resources,” the spokesman noted. When asked about the US criticism of the EGL deal with the National Iranian Gas Export Company, Lilly Frei, head of corporate communications for EGL, told the Post on Wednesday, also by e-mail, that “EGL complies with legal regulations, including those of the international community of states, and will, of course, continue to adhere to them, should they be adjusted. It is not appropriate for EGL to comment [on] possible political developments. (The Jerusalem Post, “US: Swiss-Iran gas deal sends 'wrong message',” 08/19/10)  (http://jpost.headup.com/topic/The_Jerusalem_Post) (http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=185225)

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"Western powers have already pointed the finger at Switzerland over its Iran policy in the recent past. In a 2007 official visit to Iran, Micheline Calmy-Rey, who then held the two posts of Swiss foreign minister and president, helped broker a 25-year gas contract for Swiss energy company EGL... EGL, which has been acquired by Axpo International, has since suspended the contract." (Reuters, "West raises pressure on neutral Switzerland over Iran," 11/5/2012)   (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/05/us-swiss-sanctions-iran-idUSBRE8A40YC20121105)

In July 2010, a New York Times article quoted an EGL spokesman as saying that new EU and US sanctions against Iran "have no impact" on EGL's procurement deal with the National Iranian Gas Export Company.  (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/world/middleeast/27iran.html?_r=1)

Company is now Axpo.

"Switzerland's energy trading company EGL, with 431 employees, signed an agreement in June to buy 5.5 billion cubic meters of Iranian natural gas per year for the next 25 years. The gas will reach Western Europe through a pipeline EGL is building between Greece and Italy" (Fars News Agency, "European Companies brokering deals with Iran despite US sanctions," 7/12/2007) (http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8604210189)