London: The privatisation of Greece’s Piraeus Port could raise at least €500m ($545m), Greek officials told the WSJ.
The previous Greek government announced plans to sell a 67.7% stake in the Piraeus Port Authority, which have since been put on hold to be “re-assessed” by the new Syriza-led parliament.
Ship-repair facilities, rail links, and cruise and ferry docks could all generate further investment and create thousands of jobs, officials told the paper.
Four of the world’s biggest operators of container terminal networks are said to be shortlisted for the buy-out, being China’s China Cosco Holdings; APM Terminals, part of Denmark’s A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group; Ports America Inc, the biggest operator of US ports; and the Philippines’ International Container Terminal Services Inc.
Cosco is said to be the front-runner for the deal, and already operates the port’s Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT).
Earlier this month, the European Commission ruled that Greece granted PCT and its parent Cosco Pacific an undue advantage over their competitors, and should recover incompatible state aid from the terminal.
Neither the terminal’s expansion project nor its concession agreement with the port authority will be affected by the ruling.
Greek officials also told creditors they will seek to privatise operating concessions at 14 regional airports, the WSJ reports.
