Handful of major privatizations await formation of stable Greek gov’t

The ongoing pre-election season in Greece – with results of a general election on Sunday still fresh, and yet another ballot eyed for the end of June 2023 – has frozen a handful of major privatizations in the country, although the formation of a stable government in the coming period will mean a resumption of the process.

The privatizations involve international tenders for concessions of infrastructure or even an outright privatization of assets currently held by Greece’s relevant fund, HRADF.

The specific privatizations are in a “mature stage” for implementation, and include a new concession for the Attiki Odos tollway in the greater Athens-Piraeus area; a transfer of the shares of the Egnatia tollway, which runs across the breadth of northern Greece; the listing of a large bloc of Athens International Airport (AIA) shares on the Athens Stock Exchange; as well as ratification of the sale of a majority stake in the extreme northwest port authority of Igoumenitsa, and lastly, finalization of the transfer of the Larco ferrous metals industrial concern in south-central Greece.

In terms of the Attiki Odos tollway, HRADF has already pushed back a deadline for submitting binding offers to July 10, 2023, instead of the original May 29.