By K. Deligiannis & T. Igoumenidi
Greek environment and energy minister Giorgos Stathakis appeared optimistic over a handful of major “prior actions” that his ministry must oversee towards implementation, as per memorandum-mandated obligations, including the sell-off of a majority stake in Greece’s natgas operator and several lignite-fired power units currently owned by the country's dominant power utility, PPC.
In an interview with “N”, Stathakis said he was confident that the power generating units can fetch up to 400 million euros, while he also underlined that a merger of the National Cadastre & Mapping Agency S.A. – the state-run entity charged with creating a long-delayed land registry in the country - with local title and deed offices is a non-negotiable goal.
Questioned on the government’s plans for the Public Power Corp., which is Greece’s dominant retail and wholesale electricity provider, Stathakis said the idea is to preserve the utility as a “primary axis in the (Greek) energy network, with a reduced market share by 50 percent, in line with its (power) production.”
He was echoing a standing demand by the EU Commission’s competition authority, whereby PPC must reduce its market share to the level of its electricity production. The ASE-listed utility in previous decades enjoyed a near-total monopoly in Greece’s electricity sector, from mining lignite, to production, transmission and supplying client bases.
He said a forced sell-off of a portion of PPC’s electricity units will not include hydro-electric plants.
In terms of the National Natural Gas Operator (DESFA), as the utility is formally called, he said a 400-million-euro figure for 66 percent of its shares is reasonable, in line with what Azerbaijan’s Socar offered in an ultimately ill-fated bid.
