Now Finance Ministry steps back from OLP sale tender
The Finance Ministry attempted to backtrack on the issue of the privatization of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) on Tuesday, releasing a statement to revise what senior ministry officials had said a day earlier.
The statement read that while the ministry is in favor of the existing contract with Chinese company Cosco (for the operation and development of Terminals II and III in Piraeus), “there has been no reference to the issue of OLP’s privatization.”
On Monday a top ministry official spoke of a decision to move ahead with the sell-off tender for the 67.7 percent stake in OLP, while Alternate Minister for Shipping Theodoris Dritsas told Parliament that the tender will be stopped.
The above developments highlight the differences in opinion within the government regarding OLP while negotiations with the country’s creditors are ongoing with the issue of sell-offs among those on the table.
The confusion continued later on Tuesday as a Wall Street Journal report cited Finance Ministry sources saying that Greece would inform on Wednesday’s Eurogroup meeting in Brussels that OLP privatization tender will continue.
