GEK Terna signs €3.3 bln lease for Athens toll highway, sources say
GEK Terna has signed a 3.3 billion euro deal for the lease of a toll highway in Athens, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
The deal will be key for the government to meet its fiscal target for revenue of 5.8 billion euros from privatizations and stake sales in banks this year.
One of the sources said that the deal was signed earlier on Thursday and that the aim was to collect the money by the end of the year.
GEK Terna was named last year as the preferred bidder in a tender for a 25-year concession to operate the 70-km Attiki Odos motorway.
Plans called for the state to collect 7.5% of gross revenue from tolls annually. The Attiki Odos is one of the most used in the country and generates revenues of hundreds of millions of euros annually.
According to an agreement with Greece’s creditors, the money from the concessions is to be used exclusively to pay back the country’s debt.
Last month, it was announced that tolls for passenger cars on Attiki Odos will be cut to €2.50 from €2.80, starting on October 6. [Reuters/Kathimerini]
