OLP tender at risk from dock zone change

Recent interventions by members of the government and local authorities, as well as party officials, are, according to port industry insiders, putting the success of the tender for the sale of 51 percent in Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) at risk, and are undermining the value of the organization.

A number of figures have recently asked state sell-off fund TAIPED, OLP’s main shareholder, to exclude the Drapetsona dock zone from the new concession contract between the Greek state and OLP.

Small as this strip of land may be, it is the only possible spot for the expansion of the port of Piraeus to include coastal shipping and cruise tourism. Officials of both OLP suitors, AP Moeller Maersk and Cosco Pacific, are waiting to see what the government decides and will prepare their offers accordingly.

If the Drapetsona strip is excluded, people familiar with the companies’ concerns say that “any binding bids would be particularly reserved.”

Furthermore, the matter has been delayed to such an extent that it is practically impossible for the binding bids to be submitted within October, as the bailout agreement approved by the creditors and voted by the Parliament provides for. Finally, there is also the Attica Regional Authority, which is having its case against the OLP privatization heard at the Council of State tomorrow.