INVESTORS FACE MIDAS AND MEDUSA IN THESSALONIKI

摘要

The Greek port industry has always been characterised by the dominance of the public sector, yet all of this is about to change. Earlier this year, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his left-wing Syriza party, after much toing and froing, announced that it was to move ahead with the previous government's plans, in which 'valuable public assets will be transferred to an independent fund that will monetise the assets through privatisation and other means'. Based in Greece, the fund will be managed by the Greek authorities under the supervision of the relevant European institutions. Athens will look to raise up to ?60bn ($56.6bn) as part of the privatisation programme over the next decade, including the sale of the state's 74% share in Greece's two largest container ports, Piraeus and Thessaloniki.