Further privatizations planned
If ruling New Democracy wins next week’s elections, it will sell a stake of up to 23 percent of OTE telecom, reduce its stake in the Postal Savings Bank, PPC power utility and ATEbank, and prepare the floatation of the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), while also focusing on infrastructure, Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis said yesterday in an interview. «In our first term, we have focused on privatizing the banking sector, which has been achieved to a great extent, as the only bank to remain under the state is ATEbank – a credit institution that performs a special role. Now we need to have the private sector more involved in the production and management of infrastructure, such as roads, ports and airports, as we perceive Greece as a transit, telecommunication and financial junction for the broader Southeastern European region,» he told Thomson Financial News. The government intends in its next term to find a strategic investor for OTE, which may lead to the outright departure of the state from the company’s share capital, as in Emporiki Bank. Should new efforts to find an investor fail too, Alogoskoufis will adopt the National Bank model, with the state selling up to 23 percent of OTE to institutional investors, while maintaining a small stake. «If we do not find a strategic investor for OTE, we may reduce further our stake in the corporation but not to under 5 to 10 percent, from the existing 28 percent,» he stated. Alogoskoufis added that the state may reduce its stake further in the Postal Savings Bank, as sources suggest he would opt for a foreign bank to acquire it because if it went to a local one, it would dramatically change the balance in the sector. Therefore if there is no interest from abroad, the concession of shares will continue. On ATEbank, he said the state would sell up to 26 percent of it, without excluding the reduction of the state’s stake to under 51 percent in the long term. More PPC and DEPA shares will also be sold but not before the restructuring program of the two corporations are complete. The minister implied that the government does not intend to reduce tax rates further, noting that competition with neighboring states in taxation is fruitless. Finally, in reference to the effects of the recent fires, he said that even the most extreme estimates put the growth slowdown at 0.2-0.3 percent, while the fiscal cost will be limited and the deficit will not exceed the 3 percent limit.
