Elliniko development will have major impact on economy
In the long term, the privatization and development of the old international airport plot at Elliniko, southern Athens, is seen creating about 50,000 jobs and boosting the country’s gross domestic product by 1.5 percent, according to a report by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE). State sell-off fund TAIPED is scheduled to open Lamda Development’s bid for the project on Wednesday.
The report drafted upon TAIPED’s request showed that the Elliniko project will create 35,000 jobs during the realization of its development plan in the period from 2014 to 2025. In contrast, if the investment does not materialize, some 14,500 jobs will be lost through the fiscal adjustment measures that will be taken in 2014 and 2015 to offset the fiscal loss resulting from the concession’s failure.
The project concerning what is considered to be the most important property for development in the Mediterranean will lead to a 1.2 percent increase in Greece’s GDP as a result of growing investment demand and private consumption. The external balance will also benefit via the inflow of funds and incomes from abroad, while the concession of the plot after the completion of the tender will give prominence to Greece as a reliable and attractive investment destination.
The impact of the GDP growth will predictably be greater in the Attica region, while failing to concede the property for development would entail fiscal measures that would lead to the shrinking of GDP by 0.3 percent in the first couple of years, the report estimated. Therefore, IOBE concluded, “the concession not only has the practical cash objectives, but it will also have beneficial consequences on economic activity and employment.”
Tomorrow’s planned meeting of the TAIPED board will see the opening of Lamda Development’s offer for Elliniko. If the bid is not deemed satisfactory for the selling party, then the TAIPED board will ask the candidate buyer to improve its offer. It will grant the sole interested investor a 10-day period to raise its bid.
Reports have mentioned a bid amounting to 600 million euros that would not satisfy TAIPED, but all signs point to the two sides being able to find a way to complete the concession for the Elliniko plot.
