Deadline to bid on Volos port up soon
The deadline to submit binding bids for a 67% stake in Volos Port Authority is August 22 and will not be extended, Kathimerini understands.
Of finalists summoned to submit binding bids, seven are said to still be actively interested.
Volos’ position in central Greece and its closer proximity to ports in Turkey, Cyprus and the Middle East, as well as easy road and rail access to the Balkans, make it especially competitive compared to Thessaloniki, further north, and this is a major factor in attracting prospective bidders.
It is also not a surprise that one of the bidders is Thessaloniki Port, controlled by Nikos Savvidis, son of Russian-Greek billionaire Ivan Savvidis.
Volos’ easy access to the Balkans also made the port an attractive investment for Bulgaria’s Advance Properties, part of the portfolio of the billionaire Domuschiev brothers, Kiril and Georgi, who control over 100 subsidiaries and interlocked companies active in 26 countries in sectors such as shipping, port management (two terminals in Burgas), pharmaceuticals, properties and media.
Another serious bidder is Qatar state company Qterminals; there are rumors that the bid is connected with a plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Volos.
Malta-based Mariner Capital manages four medium-sized ports in Albania, Italy and Latvia.
The other four bidders mainly involve Greek companies, sometimes in partnership with foreign ones; for example, Israel Shipyards partners with Hellenic Halyvourgia, a local steel producer based in the nearby town of Velestino that uses the port of Volos to import scrap and export steel.
