ADMIE

The crucial extraordinary general meeting of Public Power Corporation (PPC) for the ratification of the complex plan for the separation of grid operator ADMIE from the utility is set to be postponed again on Tuesday, as a number of important technical and legal parameters have to be settled first before the agreement reached with the banks last week can take shape.

Greece's four biggest lenders are concerned about the spin-off of the country's power grid operator ADMIE, a key condition of a bailout agreement between Athens and its official creditors, a banker and a government official said on Friday.

ADMIE is fully owned by Greece's state-controlled electricity utility Public Power Corporation (PPC).

The government is taking the privatization of gas network operator DESFA back to square one, reversing what has been agreed with Greece's creditors on the fast-track process and the immediate restart of the existing tender.

China's State Grid Corporation (SGCC), the world's biggest utility, on Friday signed the purchase of a minority stake in Greece's power grid operator ADMIE, China's second big investment in the debt-laden country in a matter of months.

ADMIE was fully owned by Greece's state-owned power utility Public Power Corporation (PPC).

Greece's power utility PPC confirmed on Sunday it had received two binding bids for a 24 percent stake in the country's power grid operator ADMIE.

The terms of Greece's international bailout require that PPC, which is 51 percent state-owned, either sell its stake in ADMIE or fully privatize the grid by next year.

Greek power utility PPC has received two binding bids for a 24 percent stake in power grid operator ADMIE, an Energy Ministry source told Reuters on Friday.

The short list was Italian power grid Terna jointly with infrastructure fund F2i, France's RTE International and China's State Grid International Development.

The deadline for the submission of bids was Friday afternoon.

French grid operator RTE, a unit of state-owned utility EDF, says it is considering a bid for Greek grid operator ADMIE and would be ready to play a role in consolidating Europe's power networks if European Union regulations allow this.

Power utility PPC said it has extended a deadline for binding bids for a 24 percent stake in grid operator ADMIE to next Wednesday from this Wednesday.

France's RTE International, State Grid International Development from China and Italy's Terna have been shortlisted by PPC, which owns the network.

PPC said it pushed back the deadline to give prospective buyers more time.

A new multi- bill featuring some of the so-called prior actions that Greece must implement to unlock the next tranche of 2.8 billion Euros in rescue loans is expected to be submitted to the Parliament on Friday.

Coalition MPs on Thursday approved additional measures demanded by the country's creditors in exchange for rescue loans and access to cheap funding from the European Central Bank but a few loose ends remain to be tied up before the lenders can sign off on bailout funding.