Greece submits bill on coal-fired plants sale, union threatens strikes

The Greek government submitted a bill to parliament on Wednesday evening opening the way for the country's dominant power utility PPC to begin selling coal-fired plants in May, a move strongly opposed by workers who have threatened strikes in protest.

Athens has agreed with its foreign creditors that Public Power Corp. (PPC), which is 51 percent state-owned, will sell plants equal to about 40 percent of its coal-fired capacity this year.

Greece, which is implementing reforms in exchange for loans from the European Union, will divest the capacity to comply with a European court ruling which said that PPC had abused its dominant position in the coal market.

The draft legislation, which says PPC must launch an international tender by May 31, was submitted to parliament after EU antitrust regulators approved Greek measures to open up the coal market on Tuesday.<...