Guarantees are sought for airport project

Despite the conflicting rhetoric, negotiations between state sell-off fund TAIPED and the Fraport-Schentell consortium continued last week and the transfer of 14 regional airports may be completed by the end of the year. Kathimerini understands that the consortium is seeking the same guarantees as those given for the Athens International Airport for the regional terminals.

At the time when the deal for the capital’s new airport was being negotiated, Hypovereinsbank, one of the project’s lenders, had asked for the Greek state to guarantee that it would shoulder any compensation to the investor that could arise. The banks putting up the money for the current project are seeking similar guarantees from the consortium chosen for the 14 regional airports. The demand had been tabled before the July 5 referendum, but it was resubmitted to the new administration of TAIPED in mid-July, this time by Fraport in the aftermath of the capital controls.

The consortium enjoys a significant coverage by Hermes, which insures exporting credit, usually offered not only for long-term German investments in Greece but also for the exporting of German engineering equipment to Greek companies through bank loans. The problem with the German firm is that it has not yet secured a bank loan because of the deterioration of the Greek economy in the last eight months.