A view of the Frankfurt International Airport, or Fraport. A Greek government council overseeing state asset sales has signed off on a 40-year concession for Fraport and a unit of Greece’s Copelouzos Group to operate 14 regional airports for €1.2bn ($1.32bn).

Bloomberg/Athens


Greece gave approval for the first privatisation under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a key requirement of the country’s bailout deal with creditors.
A government council overseeing state asset sales has signed off on a 40-year concession for German airport operator Fraport and a unit of Greece’s Copelouzos Group to operate 14 regional airports for €1.2bn ($1.32bn), according to the government’s official gazette.
The move is the first in a series of privatisations that Tsipras agreed to undertake in return for a third bailout package worth as much as €86bn. Most imminent is obtaining funding to avoid a default on August 20 when Greece must pay €3.2bn to the European Central Bank.
Under the current proposal, Fraport would invest €1.4bn to upgrade the airports by the end of the concession. The German company would also pay an annual guaranteed leasing fee of €22.9mn for the airports that include the holiday islands of Mykonos and Santorini. “The Greek government’s decision is not tantamount to the conclusion of a contract but rather offers a basis for the resumption of negotiations,” Joerg Machacek, a Fraport spokesman, said by phone. “We are building up from where we left off.”
While opposed to asset sales when elected in January, Tsipras reversed his pre-election promise in order to seal a bailout deal in July. The shift has split the ruling Syriza party with the prospect of new elections as early as September. Tsipras is planning a confidence vote after 44 of his lawmakers voted against him when the bailout deal was approved last week.
Under the latest agreement, the third since 2010, Greece will establish a €50bn investment fund to use as a revenue source over 30 years. The fund will include state property, shares of public companies and infrastructure, Greek officials said this month.
Following the deal, Greece set deadlines for binding offers to buy stakes in Piraeus Port Authority, rail services operator Trainose, train maintenance company Rosco SA and Thessaloniki Port Authority. APM Terminals, a unit of AP Moeller-Maersk, and Cosco Pacific, which already operates a pier at Piraeus, are among the groups that have qualified to buy a stake in PPA. Bidders for Trainose and Thessaloniki include OAO Russian Railways.

Athens eases capital controls for students and payments

Reuters/Athens

 
Greeks can now transfer up to €500 abroad and pay more towards tuition fees under a new incremental easing of capital controls imposed in June to prevent an implosion of the country’s banking system.
Under a ministerial decree issued in the Official Gazette, bank accounts can be opened for debt repayments, while up to €8,000 for student tuition and living expenses paid abroad are allowed per academic quarter.
However, individuals can still withdraw only €420 in cash from their bank accounts a week.
The decree, published on Monday, also said bank transactions related, among others, to foreign exchange spot transactions, interbank lending, derivatives trading, rollovers and transactions which did not materially change the liquidity of the credit institution were permitted, and prior authorisation was not required.
Greece imposed capital controls and ordered banks to shut temporarily on June 29, after the European Central Bank had refused to increase emergency funding to the lenders following a breakdown of bailout talks between Athens and foreign creditors.
A bailout deal worth up to €86bn has since been sealed and banks have reopened, but with a limited scope of activity.
The country has been gradually easing the capital controls since July when raised it limits on business payments abroad to €150,000 from €50,000.