Greece. Government plans to kick-start privatizations program
2012-06-25 11:29:09
New Greek finance minister Vasilis Rapanos plans to grapple with the stalled privatizations program even before the end of the month, sources said.
He is said to have scheduled one of his first meetings with the managing director of the Privatizations Fund (TAIPED) Costas Mitropoulos who appears particularly pessimistic regarding the targets set. Beyond the investment which the privatizations are expected to bring and their growth effect, the new prime minister, Antonis Samaras, has repeatedly said that privatizations will be used as negotiating tool with the country’s international creditors for gaining an extension in implementing the bailout program.
This program has set a target of €19 billion from privatizations by 2015, 50% of which is projected from real estate development, 35% from the development of infrastructures and 15% from the sale of public sector companies or government shares in others.
Apart from some 70,000 public properties and a rich portfolio of infrastructure projects for leasing or sale, the list of privatizations includes large chunks of Hellenic Railways services and stations, part of Athens International Airport and provincial airports, highway projects, ports, water utilities, marinas, the Public Power Corporation, mobile telephony frequencies, lotteries, Hellenic Petroleum, the Mt. Parnes casino, Hellenic Post and the Public Gas Corporation.