Nine groups bid for Egnatia highway privatization
Greece received on Friday nine expressions of interest for the long-term operation of its biggest motorway Egnatia, part of a privatization scheme launched under its bailout program.
Egnatia stretches 648 kilometers from the western port town of Igoumenitsa to Evros in the northeast, at the border with Turkey, and the contract for financing, operation and maintenance of the motorway and three annex roads will be for 35 years.
TAIPED, Greece’s privatizations agency said on Friday that the following groups had submitted expressions of interest:
– Italy’s state-owned ANAS International Enterprise
– Spain’s ROADIS Transportation with Greece’s Aktor Concessions
– France’s Vinci with Greece’s Mytilineos
– Greece’s GEK Terna with France’s Egis Projects
– Deutsche Invest Equity Partners with Dimera
– China’s Sichuan Communications Investment Group Co. with Damco Energy
– Northern Greece Corridor consortium; Freyja Holdings Sarl and Greece’s Diolkos.
The privatizations agency will now draw up a shortlist of which groups can submit binding bids.
Athens, under its bailout agreement, must launch the binding bids phase for Egnatia in March.
[Reuters]