Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appeared positive to the prospect of an expansion of the container terminal at the Cosco- managed Piraeus Port Authority, in high-profile statements from Shanghai on Monday, and during his meeting with the Chinese shipping multinational’s chairman, Lirong Xu.
Cosco’s Piraeus Port Authority had proposed an ambitious master plan for its port concession, including hotels, a shopping mall, a ship-building and repair station, a logistics hub and expanded shipping facilities, including the enlargement of the container terminal. Portions of the master plan, exceeding 600 million euros in value, such as the ship-repair/building component, weren’t approved by the relevant ministry.
However, in Shanghai, Mitsotakis said a “supplementary plan” to expand the port’s activity is under consideration, adding that his government is positive, in principle, referring to a “Singapore model” for Piraeus.
He qualified his statement by saying that support for the expansion “depends on persuading the local community that the agreement is towards its benefit, and that it will not burden the environment.”
