Amendment to place civil servants in OLP

The government is attempting to appoint staff to positions at the privatized Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) and to cancel a tender that OLP has already set in motion, with two amendments tabled for inclusion in a Shipping Ministry bill to be discussed on Thursday in Parliament.

The amendments have met with a strong reaction from OLP SA, which dubs aspects of the bill as “a substantial violation of the concession contract terms” agreed between OLP and the state, which triggers the right to compensation for the company. The Cosco-controlled company has already stressed that, based on the concession contract, its terms cannot be changed through legislative interventions.

Now sources from the authority are speaking of an “unheard of move” through which the government is attempting to have civil servants hired at a private company.

Although it remains unknown whether Minister Panayiotis Kouroublis will accept the amendment tabled by government deputies, ministry sources have told Kathimerini that if it becomes law it could concern as many as 30 people, while OLP raises this figure to between 60 and 70. The office of former minister Theodoros Dritsas, who co-signed the proposed amendment, has cited a figure of just four people though.