An offer of 45 million euros by Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. for Trainose, the state-run rail operator in Greece, was accepted on Thursday by Greece's privatization fund (TAIPED or HRADF).
The Italian state operator submitted the only binding bid last week for a 100-percent stake in Trainose, which still comprises the only passenger and freight rail operator in the country.
According to information on its website, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. is a government-owned holding company that manages infrastructure and services on the Italian rail network. One of its subsidiaries, Trenitalia, is the main rail operator in Italy.
The development sparked the latest round of opposition criticism, with at least three parties, including main opposition New Democracy, pointing to a statement in 2013 by then opposition SYRIZA MP Giorgos Stathakis, today’s economy minister, on the prospects for Trainose’s privatization at the time.
Stathakis in 2013 called an calculation of Trainose’s value at 300 million euros a “sell-off” that merely facilitates certain private sector interests.
