A general assembly of Public Power Corp. (PPC) shareholders this week approved the sale of a 25-percent stake of the power transmission grid operator (ADMIE) to the Greek state for 295.6 million euros, a transaction aimed to separate the latter from PPC, the dominant power provider in the country.
Separating state-run PPC from the grid operator is both a memorandum-mandated prior action and a measure imposed by the EU Commission’s competition directorate.
The 25-percent stake will be transferred to a holding company wholly owned by the Greek state, a precursor for its subsequent sale to a strategic investor, which in this case points to the China State Grid Corp. utility operator.
In a related development, PPC’s management is also considering an international tender to sell off a 7-percent bloc of its customer base, roughly 400,000 to 450,000 consumers. The tender is expected to be proclaimed by July or even late June 2017.
The announcement was made by PPC CEO Emmanuel Panagiotakis, who spoke on the sidelines of the power company’s general assembly of shareholders.
Such a prospect has been in the works for months, according to reports, with PPC’s management considering that the sell-off of small bloc of consumers is necessary in order to liberalize the domestic electricity market in the country – another standing demand by the Commission’s competition regulators.
