Bids for stake in Hellenic Petroleum set for mid-March

Privatizations will speed up in the first half of the year, although we have entered an election period and the pace is expected to slow, Aris Xenofos, who heads the TAIPED sell-off fund, told the Athens Energy Forum on Monday.

Focusing on energy privatizations, Xenofos estimated that the offers for the concession of the 50.1 percent stake in Hellenic Petroleum will be submitted in the second week of March, admitting that this is a complicated project.

On the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), the TAIPED chief announced the completion of the consultation of the parties involved regarding the bill to split the company into a trading firm and an infrastructure entity. The draft law is now expected to be tabled in Parliament in February.

TAIPED anticipates that the process for the utilization of the underground natural gas storage facility at Kavala will start in the last quarter of the year, Xenofos added.