By F. Zois
A third consecutive extension, until late June, of an international tender to privatize Greece’s rail operator followed requests by interested investors, who reportedly cited pressing deadlines as preventing them from submitting guaranteed bids.
The deadline to submit bids was bumped from May 31 to June 22.
Interest in Greek rail operator Trainose has been expressed by Italian rail operator Trenitalia, Russian railways (RZD) and the Greece-based construction and engineering firm Terna.
The decision for the deadline extension was taken by Greece’s privatization agency (TAIPED), after a request by the two foreign rail operators.
Although not officially cited, the extra three weeks mean investors will know if a long-delayed first review of the Greek program (third bailout) is achieved within May, as the latest and oft-repeated “crucial” date is now May 24, when Eurozone finance ministers (Eurogroup) are expected, by most accounts, to seal an agreement between Athens and its institutional creditors.
Moreover, another factor that has recently affected the tender is whether the leftist government will finally reopen Greece’s main north-south rail line, which connects the country with the rest of Europe. The line has been closed due to an “occupation” by Mideast refugees camped out at the Idomeni border post in extreme northern Greece. The latter, along with other third country nationals, insist on the protest (on the Greek side of the border) as a way of pressuring the neighboring former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) to allow them to transit its territory.
Saturday marked the 55th day of the rail line’s closing, with damages calculated at six million euros. Multinational Sony has already stopped shipping products through the Piraeus-Idomeni route, as delivery times via the alternate route through Bulgaria reportedly do not satisfy the company.
The one-month delay in the Trainose tender unavoidably affects a similar process for the Hellenic Company for Rolling Stock Maintenance S.A. (EESSTY), whose sale is linked with Trainose’s privatization.
