New environment and energy minister Kostis Hatzidakis, a veteran of previous New Democracy (ND) governments, on Friday returned to the debt-laden and -- of late -- loss-making Public Power Corp. (PPC), the state-run and dominant electricity utility in the country.
"The company may or may not make it," was Hatzidakis' ominous forecast, while he also referred to "economic insanity" in commenting on an agreement between the previous Tsipras government and the EU Commission. The plan aims to almost halve ATHEX-listed PPC's consumer base - from 90 percent to 50 percent - without any financial off-sets, as he charged. He said the agreement essentially aimed to cancel out a previous ND's plan for a "smaller PPC", something the leftist government virulently opposed.
Speaking to a local radio station, Hatzidakis reminded that the previous government sold-off a 66-percent share of DESFA and "celebrated ... they sold-off 49 percent of ADMIE and celebrated. They only remembered PPC in order to show their sensitivity," he added, referring to the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator S.A. (DESFA) and the Independent Power Transmission Operator S.A. (ADMIE), respectively.
