Gov’t under fire over fresh obstacle to Cosco deal
In the wake of reports that Greece’s Culture Ministry has raised fresh obstacles to Chinese group Cosco’s plans to develop the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), the country’s conservative opposition on Wednesday attacked the leftist-led government saying that its “ideological obsessions” were putting off foreign investors.
“It has once more become evident that the SYRIZA-Independent Greeks coalition does not believe in [foreign] investments,” said New Democracy’s shadow culture minister Olga Kefaloyianni.
“It fails to understand that its raising obstacles to every investment is seriously undermining the country’s growth,” she added.
Accroding to Kathimerini, the Culture Ministry’s general Secretary, Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, sent a letter to Shipping Minister Panayiotis Kouroublis in April asking him to revoke the concession for the Silo building in the port so it can house a museum of marine antiquities.
According to a law passed last year, the structure – which once served as a wheat storage structure – belongs to the set of buildings conceded by the state to OLP, which is now majority-owned by Cosco.
In her letter, Andreadaki-Vlazaki urged Kouroublis to take all measures necessary to revoke the current concession and to hand it over the Culture Ministry.
