Staff at Greece’s OTE telecoms want state stake sale plan scrapped
Workers at Greece’s largest telecoms group OTE oppose a government plan to sell a minority stake in the firm, fearing the state will lose control of a strategically important company.
Greece has agreed to a privatization scheme aimed at raising 14 billion euros in proceeds by 2022, including the sale of a stake in OTE.
“Greece is selling the stake just to raise money,” said Vassilis Lambrou, head of OME-OTE trade union, which represents some 14,000 employees in OTE.
“By amending the shareholders’ agreement, the government is also secretly waiving several important veto rights which safeguard state interests, while the number of its members on the company’s board will be gradually reduced,” he told Reuters.
[Reuters]