New Greek gov't says to halt COSCO port bid
- By Zhang Lulu
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 29, 2015
The new Greek government said it would halt the sale of a majority stake in Piraesu port, the country's largest port, media reports say.
China Overseas Shipping Group Co. (COSCO) is among the potential buyers of a 67 percent stake in the Piraeus Port under its privatization scheme.
"The COSCO deal with be reviewed to the benefit of the Greek people," Reuters quoted Thodoris Dritsas, Greek deputy minister in charge of shipping, as saying.
COSCO put in a €490 million (US$620 million) bid for a 30-year operation concession in the port in 2008 and later extended it to 35 years, becoming the first Chinese firm to win a concession in an overseas port. The company announced last November that it would pump another €400 million into the port.
COSCO inaugurated an expansion program of the Pier III of COSCO Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) on Jan. 22, which was attended by the then Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Samaras stepped down just four days later after his New Democracy party lost to the leftist Syriza party in the general election.
China.org.cn called COSCO for comment, but could not reach it as of Wednesday.
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