Greek Port Privatization at Cross Roads
The privatization of the port authorities of Piraeus and Thessaloniki has become bone of contention for the government, reports Kathimerini.
The finance ministry is in favor of the privatization of Piraeus Port Authority [OLP] and it wants to encourage privatization move, says government sources.
However, Minister for Shipping Theodoris Dritsas assured the Parliament of his commitment to stop the privatization of OLP and OLTH [the Thessaloniki Port Authority] to preserve the public character of the country’s ports.
The new government announced that a privatization program launched to trim the country’s staggering EUR320bn debt load was in effect null and void.
The contradictory statements from two ministers send negative messages to the potential investors, which in OLP’s case include both Chinese group Cosco Pacific and APM Terminals, a subsidiary to the Denmark-based Maersk Group.
Dritsas said investors must ensure transparency, respect labor rights, work to protect the environment and involve small and medium-sized enterprises, in cases where private interests already utilize ports