ATHENS: Greece official stated that it expects to raise at least €500 million from the privatization of the Piraeus port. The privatization plan has been controversial, and politicians in Greece’s new leftist-led government have publicly expressed conflicting signals about whether it would go ahead, spooking creditors. Privately, however, senior Greek officials have said it would proceed.
Greece’s previous government has been seeking to sell a 67.7% stake in the Piraeus Port Authority. It would be one of Greece’s biggest divestments, part of an ambitious privatization plan agreed to by the previous government and creditors. Creditors have repeatedly told Athens that the sale of state assets is a must in any new financing deal.
The port, just a few miles south of the Greek capital of Athens, is the de facto home of Greece’s giant shipping industry and is one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean. The government expects a minimum €500 million from the sale, as well as further investments in ship-repair facilities, rail links, and cruise and ferry docks that could create thousands of jobs, the Greek officials said.
The shortlist of buyers for the stake includes China’s shipping and ports giant China Cosco Holding Co., APM Terminals, owned by Danish shipping major A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S, Ports America Inc., the biggest U.S. port operator, and Philippines-based port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc.
