Piraeus deadline pushed back
The bid deadline for the privatisation of Piraeus Port has been pushed back until December with an early election being blamed for the delay.
Chinese state-run shipping company Cosco Group, APM Terminals and International Container Terminal Series (ICTSI) originally had until 30 October to submit binding bids for a 51% stake in the port operator OLP.
The bidding process being pushed back will come as welcome news for some. Not all port workers are happy. Maritime Journal’s sister magazine, Port Strategy reported earlier in the month that some had threatened to block the sale with protests and strikes over fears of job cuts.
Last week, two days of strikes took place in protest of the planned privatisation of Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports spearheaded by The Crew Union of Towage Companies.
Although only Piraeus tugs appear to have participated in the strike action both Piraeus and Eleusis ports ceased towing operations between 0600 and 1000 on both days.
But its worrying times for Greece because the privatisation of the ports is one of the actions that the country needs to take in order to unlock more bailout funds from the EU.
Reuters reported that the recession hit country has raised only €3.5bn since 2011, far below its initial target of €50bn for between 2011 and 2015.
It said the country also looks set to miss this year’s target of €1.4bn in privatisation revenue, but that it hopes to more than make up for this by raising €3.7bn from state sale assets in 2016.
By Anne-Marie Causer
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