Greece Okays Piraeus Port Sale

Greece Economy Minister George Stathakis said that his government is dropping its opposition to selling off the Piraeus Port Authority SA.

A sale of the Piraeus Port would be a reversal on the part of Greece’s Syriza party-led government, which had earlier pledged to block such moves.

The country's leftist government had ruled out any privatization plans when it came into power but it later started pondering the revision of the sale terms and now has have given the green light for the sale of a majority stake in Piraeus port .

Greek government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis said that final decisions on the privatization plan were linked to ongoing negotiations with international lenders on a new deal regarding the resolution of the Greek debt crisis.

He added that the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) rephrased the terms of the tender concerning PPA's privatization, taken into account the interests of the Greek state, employees and the city of Piraeus and trying to avoid a cancellation of the process which could raise demands by participants.

“It will be for 51% with an option to reach 67% in five years if they invest 300m Euros,” a senior privatisation official told Reuters. “We want to name the winner at the end of September or early October.”

Greece has asked asked three firms – Cosco, APM Terminals and International Container Terminal Services – to submit binding bids before September, reports say.  Cosco is said to be the front-runner for the deal, and already operates the port’s Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT).