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Confessions of a port geek (number 77): the forthcoming further privatisation of the Greek port of Piraeus is going to be one of the most interesting sell-offs in recent years. The indebted Greek government is under pressure to sell, but its natural political leaning mean it doesn’t want to; unions and much of society is totally against it; Chinese operator Cosco has made a tremendous commercial success of the first terminal concession and is eager to expand its footprint; and its location at the gateway to the eastern Med and Black Sea make it geographically one of the most attractive investment prospects around. Will the Greek government move ahead? Will Chinese government pressure see the concession awarded to state-owned Cosco amid pormises of further investment in other infrastructure? Or will Greek authorities insist on greater inter-terminal competition and award it an operator such as ICTSI?
Comment on this article
Neil Davidson
May 20, 2015 at 2:16 pmYes, it certainly will be interesting especially if ICTSI or APMT become Cosco Pacific’s landlord (as well as direct competitor in the port)! Cosco must be regarded as favourite for reasons of pragmatism if nothing else. But it’s a complicated situation and stranger things have happened in the port industry.