ADMIE’s fate rests on PPC
The government is challenging a proposal by creditors for the privatization of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) by insisting on the full nationalization of the firm.
The government’s intransigent attitude is more than likely to lead to the privatization of the lignite-powered and the hydroelectric units of Public Power Corporation (PPC), as the country’s creditors have made it clear that the model of state-controlled grids in other countries cannot apply to Greece owing to the dominant position of PPC in the domestic market.
The only chance for privatized ADMIE to return to state control, according to officials involved in its sell-off, would be for the privatization of PPC to proceed, either through the previous government’s plan for the sale of a “Small PPC” offshoot, or through the sell-off of power-producing plants, using lignite or water resources.
It is no coincidence that Energy Minister Panos Skourletis commented on Tuesday on a PPC sale: “We’ll see what happens, the issue is not clear as it has been put.”
