By N. Bellos
The signing of a contract between the Greek state and the land developer who won an international tender to develop the coastal Helleniko site, on paper one of the biggest real estate deals in the Mediterranean basin, is one of the very few “open issues” standing between Athens and a conclusive first review of the Greek program.
A Eurozone source said as much on Monday on the sidelines of a EWG meeting in the Belgian capital, a meeting which focused on the Greek program in the wake of a compliance report submitted by the Commission and other institutional lenders.
“We have not concluded 100 percent, however, the partners in Athens are hopeful that this will be achieved by tomorrow, in the early afternoon,” the source said, adding that only a written confirmation by the Commission is necessary to finalize the first review of the third bailout.
Besides the Helleniko investment, other issues that must be resolved by Tuesday are an agreement to sell a 5-percent stake of Hellenic Telephony (OTE) held by the Greek privatization fund (TAIPED), as well as reforms scheduled for the autumn, when the second and smaller tranche of a 10.3-billion-euro loan package is due to be disbursed.
