Concern over privatization project delays
While Wednesday should see the completion of Stelios Stavridis’s appointment as head of the state privatization fund (TAIPED), the sell-off projects themselves continue to face serious delays.
The deadline for the submission of bids for the OPAP gaming company has been put off by another 10 days to March 28. The original deadline had been set for March 11. Sources say that the new extension is the last for binding offers.
TAIPED also granted a one-day extension on Tuesday for offers for six properties located outside of Greece. The deadline had been Tuesday, but the new one is Wednesday at 9 p.m. The sales of a plot in Nicosia and a building in Belgrade have run into legal problems as the previous owners have taken their cases to court.
Andrey Korolev, chief executive officer of Russian group Sintez, expressed “concern” and “disappointment” regarding the constant delays in the privatization of gas companies DEPA and DESFA that it has bid for.
Speaking to Oil & Gas Eurasia magazine, Korolev referred to pressure from the European Commission and the United States to prevent the Greek energy companies from passing into Russian hands.
