By D. Hatzinikolas
Greece’s leftist government on Thursday rallied around an embattled maritime minister who changed several points in a concession contract awarding Chinese shipping giant Cosco a majority stake in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) and its management.
The contract, which Cosco said was altered from an original agreement, made its way to Parliament on Wednesday for a fast-track procedure debate, with ratification expected on Thursday, ahead of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ official visit to Beijing on Saturday.
Although the Tsipras government is anxious to finalize the agreement ahead of the visit, nevertheless, sources from the premier’s office maintained that relevant minister Thodoris Dritsas did not make any changes to the text.
The government’s spin was this:
“Whatever changes in the original (agreement) text, which was in English, were made by the Government’s state secretariat, always in cooperation with the privatization fund (TAIPED), which was in contact with Cosco – and with a view towards adapting it (agreement) to Greek law.”
The same sources, which did not want to go on the record, blamed Cosco’s legal department for issuing a stern letter essentially laying the blame on Dritsas and his ministry, instead of contacting the privatization fund.”
With a view to the political opposition in the country, the sources also cited the fact that the furor was “exploited” by the opposition ahead of Tsipras’ visit to China.
A day earlier, Cosco’s Greek subsidiary expressed its objections to several points in the tabled draft bill containing the contract that transfers a majority of (OLP) shares and its management.
A letter by the shipping giant was sent to a relevant committee in Greece’s Parliament.
“The submitted draft bill not only is different, but is in complete opposition to the basic conditions of the specific agreement, and with the figures on which the offer by our company was based on for the purchase of OLP,” the letter by Cosco read.
The company also warned of “damage” that the bill’s passage can cause, while demanding a restoration of the contract’s originally agreed-to provisions.
Speaking earlier at the committee hearing, where the draft bill was first opened for debate, the minister merely referred to changes for which he had “the right to make to the contract-ratifying law.”
Dritsas, a veteran leftist activist who led the opposition to any privatization of any part of the port when his party was in the opposition, nevertheless left open the possibility of modifications to the law brought before Parliament.
On their part, officials from Greece’s privatization fund, TAIPED, which oversaw the international tender that witnessed Cosco making the winning bid, said the changes in the draft law were not substantive, “however, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, they will be clarified.”
In a heated response, main opposition New Democracy (ND) spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos vilified the leftist Greek government for “again following the slippery slope of ‘we say one thing, we agree to something else, and vote for something different’.”
“The letter reprimand by Cosco shows, in all its glory, the completely lack of credibility of this government,” he charged.
