By V. Vegiri
Priorities on a coming “to do” list by the east Mediterranean country’s privatization agency reportedly include the Egnatia motorway that crosses the breadth of northern Greece as well as port activity concessions at the ports of Alexandroupolis and Kavala, both in the north as well.
Selling off port activity concessions, instead of an outright majority of shares of the relevant port authorities, and by extension, the entire facility’s management, has been chosen by the mostly leftist Tsipras government for remaining regional port authorities around Greece. The two largest and busiest port authorities in the country, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, were privatized via an international tender after 2015, a development that included the majority purchase of their shares and full management for the winning concessionaire.
Another wholly modest privatization concerns the sale of a minority stake in Thessaloniki’s water and sewerage utility (EY.ATh), also reportedly set for the first quarter of 2019. The same quarter may also witness tenders, again for specific activities and not outright control, for the ports of Igoumenitsa (extreme NW Greece) and Corfu, the Ionian island off northwest Greece.
Binding offers for the Egnatia tollway, which connects northeast Greece at the border with Turkey with Igoumenitsa, on the Ionian Sea coast, are expected by the end of 2018.
Of the regional ports on the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund’s (HRADF) privatization list, Alexandroupolis appears to have garnered most of the interest, given that it is linked to several energy-related projects, such as the TAP pipeline and an under-construction off-shore LNG terminal, among others.
The first marina up for privatization in the coming period is Aretsous, just east of Thessaloniki proper, also set for early 2019.
Privatizing, in full or partially, dozens of state-run – and usually under-performing – marinas around the island-laden country has been a goal of successive Greek governments over the decades, without much success, although the bailout era since 2010 provided the necessity, framework and timetable for selling off such facilities to the private sector.
In terms of Thessaloniki’s water utility, sources that spoke to “N” said the tender for a 24-percent stake has also been bumped to first quarter of 2019. The tender will not include the management of the utility, with the state retaining 51 percent of EY.ATh. The minority stake of 24 percent is currently held by the HRADF.
Virulent opposition to any privatization of greater Thessaloniki’s water and sewerage utility, even the sale of a minority stake, had been a “banner issue” by leftist parties in the area for decades, including ruling SYRIZA party when it was in the opposition.
