Greece won’t cut price in Fraport airport deal, says privatization chief
Greece will not cut the price of a deal with Germany's Fraport to lease some of its airports, the head of the country's privatization agency told a newspaper on Monday.
The government chose Fraport and its Greek partner, energy firm Copelouzos, last year as the preferred bidder to operate 14 regional airports in tourist destinations – one of the biggest privatizations since a debt crisis took hold at the end of 2009.
Fraport has agreed to pay 1.2 billion euros for the 40-year lease of airports in popular tourist locations, including Corfu and Mykonos.
"We are not discussing any reduction in the price," the head of privatization agency HRADF, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Efimerida Ton Syntakton newspaper, adding that the deal with Fraport "will be signed as it is".
The newspaper said that senior Fraport executives visited the sites of some of the airports they are due to buy last week and met trade union officials. Citing unnamed sources, the paper said the visits were made as Fraport sought to secure a lower price for the deal, which would be the first major privatization completed under the left-wing SYRIZA government.
[Reuters]
