Shanghai: Greece’s newly elected prime minister Alexis Tsipras has halted the privatisation of Piraeus Port.
China’s Cosco Group was among four international companies bidding on a 67% stake in Piraeus Port Authority.
Thodoris Dritsas, Greece’s new deputy minister in charge of shipping, told Reuters that the Cosco deal will be reviewed “to the benefit of the Greek people”.
The privatisation of the port is part of a €240bn bailout agreement. A sale of Greece’s second biggest port, Thessaloniki, was planned and now hangs in the balance under the country’s new government, as does the sale of railway operator Trainose and rolling stock operator ROSCO.
Cosco Pacific operates Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT), and in November 2014 signed a revised investment agreement with the Port Authority to invest a further €230m into PCT to increase the annual container capacity of the port. Expansion work began earlier this month. [28/01/15]
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