Shipyard sell-off terms criticized
Development Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos told MPs yesterday that the European Union’s competition commission will approve the sale of Hellenic Shipyards to Germany’s Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW)-Ferrostaal by the end of the month. The minister came in for heavy criticism from opposition deputies who charged that the sale price, about 6 million euros for a 51-percent share, grossly underestimated the value of the shipyard. Criticism also focused on the likelihood that the company will be broken up into smaller units, the identity of the buyer – since agreeing, HDW has been taken over by US fund One Equity Partners – and the contracts with the shipyard on behalf of the Greek Navy, whose value exceeds 5 billion euros. MPs were especially critical of the latter arrangement. «That’s privatization, PASOK-style,» a left-wing MP said, referring to the governing Panhellenic Socialist Movement. Prokopis Pavlopoulos, a spokesman for the conservative opposition New Democracy, warned that his party would take a very close look at the sale contract. «It will be subjected to exhaustive scrutiny,» he said.
