Cosco

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED) is preparing to hire advisers to explore the privatization of 10 port authorities in which it holds stakes.

Although the process relates to all 10 ports, sources suggest that the first to be sold will be that in Alexandroupoli as it has already attracted substantial interest domestically and internationally.

After years of struggling under austerity imposed by its European Union partners and a chilly shoulder from the United States, Greece has embraced the advances of China, its most ardent and geopolitically ambitious suitor.

Container traffic at Greece's biggest port in Piraeus contracted 4.4 percent last month, according to data published by Chinese operator Cosco, which showed that the port handled 309,000 cargo containers this July compared with 323,300 in the same period last year.

The first conflict since the privatization last year of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) has emerged between the Greek state and Chinese group Cosco, the owner of 51 percent of the Athens-listed company.

One in every four employees at the recently privatized Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) has expressed an interest in transferring to the broader state sector.

Business at Greece's two privatized ports, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, could increase the country's gross domestic product by up to 5.6 billion euros a year, a survey by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) has found. The strategic position of Greece's two main ports is seen as crucial for international trade.

Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) chief executive Fu Chengqiu referred on Friday to the prospect of shipbuilding resuming in Piraeus as well as elsewhere in Greece, in the context of a joint visit with cabinet members to the Perama Ship Repair Zone.

Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) is not only planning to create four new mooring slots for cruise ships at the southern side of the port that will be able to receive vessels of up to 390 meters in length, but in the medium term it is also preparing the creation of a luxurious hotel and shopping center, as well as entertainment and food service spots.

In the wake of reports that Greece's Culture Ministry has raised fresh obstacles to Chinese group Cosco's plans to develop the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), the country's conservative opposition on Wednesday attacked the leftist-led government saying that its "ideological obsessions" were putting off foreign investors.

A few days before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heads off to Beijing to take part in the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in search of investors, Chinese group Cosco is faced with a fresh obstacle in its plans to develop the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) as the Ministry of Culture says it wants to acquire OLP buildings.