Creditors deal Spirtzis blow over Egnatia
Greece’s creditors are forcing Transport and Infrastructure Minister Christos Spirtzis into a humiliating retreat on all fronts on the issue of the Egnatia Highway, according to the updated version of the bailout agreement.
The lenders have dictated that he exempt the highway that crosses northern Greece from the tender for electronic tolls by June 15, that he put an end to the free passes granted to local residents and professionals by December 31, that he immediately apply the new toll pricing policy approved by state sell-off fund TAIPED, and that the toll posts that still haven’t been built be constructed as soon as possible.
The bailout program provisions on the Egnatia Highway constitute a political defeat for the minister vis-a-vis TAIPED, which also serves to explain the minister’s angry attack against the fund last week.
