Trainose tender to be extended by 3 weeks
Greece will push back by three weeks a deadline for binding bids to sell its railways operator Trainose after investors asked for more time to prepare, a privatization agency official said on Friday.
It is the second time this year that Trainose’s privatization has been delayed.
On Monday, Greece also extended by around six weeks to June 27 the deadline for bids to build and operate a new airport on the island of Crete.
Athens last month received expressions of interest in Trainose from Italy’s state railways, Russian Railways (RZD) and Greek construction group GEK-Terna.
It had set a May 31 deadline.
That will be extended to late June, after the Italian and Russian companies said they needed more time, the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
“We will give them another 20 days,” the official told Reuters, adding that Trainose’s financial statements will be ready by May 25 and potential suitors will then have a full picture of the asset.
A spokesman for the Italian railway company confirmed it had requested a one-month extension.
[Reuters]
