Thessaloniki Port Authority

An unnamed German company is in the process of creating a Greek subsidiary based in Thessaloniki, Stefanos Tziritis, the president of the German-Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Northern Greece Committee, announced on Friday.

The governing board of Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) decided on Friday to call an extraordinary general meeting of the Athens-listed company's shareholders for January 25, following an order to that effect by main stakeholder TAIPED - the country's sell-off fund - which is striving to complete this privatization project.

An agreement for the sale of 67 pct of the Thessaloniki port to South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki (SEGT) Limited, was signed at the offices of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) on Thursday, following the approval of the Greek Court of Audit./greece.greekreporter.com

The contract for the concession of 67 percent of Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) to the South East Gateway Thessaloniki consortium was finally signed on Thursday, after numerous postponements.

The German-French-Greek venture will pay 231.92 million euros to the state and make investments of 180 million.

The saga over a majority stake in Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) took another twist on Friday as the signing of the concession of 67 percent of shares was suddenly postponed due to problems with the Russian bank that had issued the letter of guarantee for the transaction.

The sale of a 67 percent stake in Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) is expected to be signed on December 15, the representative and coordinator of the consortium that was granted the tender, Sotiris Theofanis, said on Friday.

When sell-off fund TAIPED elected the consortium of Deutsche Invest Equity Partners, Belterra Investments and Terminal Link as the preferred bidder for the privatization of Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) at the end of June, the bidder's officials professed their readiness to take over the management of the country's second largest port.

Only by selling its holdings in major listed companies such as OTE telecom, Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) and Public Power Corporation, can Greece's privatizations program meet the targets agreed with the country's creditors.

The government is working hard to prepare for a scheduled visit to Greece on September 7 and 8 by French President Emmanuel Macron, seeking to boost the interest of French investors and encourage a large delegation of entrepreneurs to accompany him on his trip.

Next week will likely see the conclusion of the sale of railway service operator Trainose, while the contract for the sale of 67 percent of Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) has been put off until September.