Greece Concludes Tender for Sale of Skaramangas Shipyard

Greece on Wednesday concluded a tender for the sale of Hellenic Shipyards SA, the country's biggest shipyard which has been under special administration, its finance minister said.

The debt-laden shipyard, based in Skaramangas near Athens, offers maintenance services to the Greek navy and the sale has been part of Greek government drive to overhaul its loss-making Greek defense industry and boost the country's defense capabilities. A previous tender for the shipyard last year was inconclusive.

Forest Grove submitted the highest bid for the shipyard under administration, offering 25 million euros, Hellenic Shipyards SA said in a statement.

In a separate tender for the sale of a real estate used by the shipyard, Milina Enterprises Company Ltd., linked to Greek ship owner George Prokopiou, submitted the highest bid, offering 37 million euros, Greece's real estate arm, Hellenic Public Properties Company said.

"Today, a months' long effort to solve several issues was completed," Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said in a statement, adding that the total price, including other related assets sold, reached 78 million euros ($92.02 million).

($1 = 0.8476 euros)

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Sandra Maler)