Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party on Thursday directly questioned the recent acquisition of a private electricity trader and provider in the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) by state-controlled Public Power Corp. (PPC), the one-time power monopoly in Greece.
Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party on Thursday directly questioned the recent acquisition of a private electricity trader and provider in the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) by state-controlled Public Power Corp. (PPC), the one-time power monopoly in Greece.
ND sector head and MP Vassilis Kikilias referred to a "political decision" to purchase EDS for five million euros by ASE-listed PPC, and demanded to know who gave the "green light".
EDS's primary shareholder at the time of the sale is the current vice premier for economic affairs in the neighboring country, Koco Angjuse.
The insinuation by the center-right party is that the transaction - between a Greek state-run utility and a company owned by a Cabinet minister in Skopje - preceded the landmark Prespes Agreement between the Tsipras and Zaev governments to finally resolve the nagging "name issue" preventing a full normalization of bilateral ties between the two neighbors - as well as blocking the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration.
"PPC has risked bankruptcy two or three times in the past year, and couldn't even cover its payroll," Kikilias, who holds the shadow defense portfolio in ND, stated.
EDS was founded in 2012 and has subsidiaries in Serbia, Slovakia and Kosovo. The group is also a member of the Hungarian Power exchange (HUPX), with trading licenses for Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary.
At present, its major client base is mostly industries and businesses, with a portfolio of 320MW, equivalent to some 40 percent of companies with more than 50 employees in the neighboring country.