Thessaloniki Port Authority (OL.Th) managing director Dimitris Makris on Thursday expressed optimism that the port’s privatization will be concluded within the next five months.
Speaking during a press briefing to present the port authority’s results for 2016 and ongoing privatization developments, Makris said he hopes the privatization will enjoy wide political support and emphasized that the tender winner, a consortium comprised of Deutsche Invest Equity Partners GmbH, Terminal Link SAS and Belterra Investments Ltd. and Terminal Link SAS will upgrade the facility bump the port to a higher level.
It’s noteworthy that Belterra is controlled by Thessaloniki-based Russian-Greek investor Ivan Savvidis.
Makris said container traffic is up by 7.5 percent in the first four months of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, with the increase in bulk cargo up by 30.2 percent. The forecast, according to Makris, is for 360K teus passing through the port and bulk cargo reaching four million tons for the current year. If realized, the figures would mark 10-year and five-year highs, respectively.
