Athens: Greece’s radical left Syriza government yesterday approved its first privatisation granting a concession of more than a dozen key regional airports to Germany’s Fraport-Slentel consortium in a deal worth €1.23bn ($1.36bn).
The 40-year concession covers most of Greece’s top travel hubs including Thessaloniki, Hania in Crete, and other islands such as Mykonos, Corfu, Rhodes and Santorini. The deal, which includes a further 10-year lease option, had been approved by the previous Greek government but was put on hold after the hard-left Syriza party of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came to power in January.
The government gazette published a decree indicating that the government “approves” privatisation agency Taiped’s decision to award the concessions to Fraport along with a leasing agreement totalling €22.9m a year. However, the contracts have yet to be signed and talks are still ongoing, the company said.
Fraport “does not expect the deal to be finalised this year”, a company spokesperson said.
It is the first privatisation announced since eurozone ministers approved on Friday a massive new bailout for debt-laden Greece. The Tsipras government has agreed the privatations of public assets as part of the deal reached its international creditors to win a third international bailout since 2010 worth €86bn, approved by parliament on Friday.
The creditors demanded the creation of a €50bn privatisation fund — notably concerning ports, airports and railways — to be managed by Athens but supervised by the international institutions.
In November, Fraport had issued a statement saying it had won a “privatisation offer” for the airports, which also include Cephalonia, Zakynthos, Aktion, Kavala, Kos, Samos, Lesbos and Skiathos. The company has pledged to sink €330m in the airports during the first four years, and invest €1.4bn during the lease’s 40-year duration overall.
Greece’s regional airports run a brisk business handling millions of tourists, mainly heading to island destinations.
But hardline Syriza dissidents reacted angrily to the airport concession announcment, saying it was the first step towards “a general sale of Greece”. The governor of the Ionian isles, elected on Syriza’s ticket, also criticised the deal as “contrary to local and national interests.”
AFP
