The Greek government on Wednesday approved of the sale of a 30 percent stake owned by the state in the Athens International Airport, with the shares currently held and managed by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF).
The “green light” was given by members of a top Cabinet-level committee for economic policy, which was chaired by PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and comes after a recommendation by Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.
In a brief statement afterwards, Staikouras said the new government is following through on a privatization announced by the previous Tsipras government, but one that was never implemented.
“…Our ideological and political position, as we’ve constantly stressed, is to deal with privatizations as an economic growth tool, as long as these are conducted under fully transparent terms, and on the basis of public good, and not just as a means of increasing public revenues,” he added.
The Eleftherios Venizelos Athens International Airport (AIA) is managed by the Canada-based PSP Investments fund on a 40-year concession. The latter already holds a 40-percent stake of the facility and has pressed for a tender for the 30-percent stake.
