The EU Commission has approved the candidates proposed by the Greek government for the regulatory board of a new “super privatization fund”, with the selection of the board of directors up next.
By N. Bellos
The EU Commission has approved the candidates proposed by the Greek government for the regulatory board of a new “super privatization fund”, with the selection of the board of directors up next.
According to Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt in Brussels on Tuesday, the EU’s executive considers the development as significant, given that the creation and operation of such a fund is one of several “prior actions” demanded by institutional creditors in order to free-up a 2.8-billion-euro sub-tranche in bailout loans. The latter sum was left over from the first review of the Greek program (third bailout) in the spring.
The spokeswoman said that appointing the board members, who will be assigned the task of managing the new fund and ensuring its autonomy, is the next step.
Asked by reporters if the transfer of majority stakes – now held directly by the state –of several utilities and public enterprises to the fund entails their imminent privatization, Breidthardt declined to comment and referred the matter to the soon-to-be-announced management of the fund.
She nevertheless reminded that all of the actions taking place emanate from the signing and subsequent ratification of the third memorandum, which dates to August 2015.
The leftist Tsipras government and its rightist-populist junior coalition partner have faced increased criticism from the opposition over the transfer of various utilities to the fund, especially the water companies in the greater Athens and Thessaloniki areas.
Critics to its right claim duplicity, as SYRIZA was adamantly and aggressively against privatizations while in the opposition, whereas criticism from the left charges a “sell-off” of vital public services to private interests.