The concessionaire that now manages 14 regional airports around Greece - including the best-known tourism destinations - on Friday downplayed recent press reports pointing to a demand for a 70-million-euro rebate by the former due to the poor state of maintenance characterizing the facilities upon their hand off.

 

Fraport Greece emphasized that any post-agreement negotiations with the Greek state do not threaten implementation of the contract or scheduled upgrades, while emphasizing that the procedure cited by Spiegel, for instance, is clearly envisioned in the concession contract.

 

Specifically, a Fraport Greece press release reads:

"Τhe biggest concession in the history of Greece is a complex project, both in technical and operational terms. Fraport Greece and the Greek State have been cooperating successfully for a long time over the smooth development and success of the project. Any contractual disputes arising in the course of the implementation of the contract do not invalidate the quality of this cooperation and under no circumstances prevent the rapid implementation of the works.

 

"The Procedure that has been initiated between the Concessionaire and the Greek State is clearly provided in the Concession Contract. It is an international practice for such large-scale projects and part of the immediate resolution of disputes and the smooth  execution of the contracts to promote the implementation of projects, without any doubt or obstacle.

 

"Following the approval of the 14 master plans by the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Networks, Fraport Greece is ready to launch the implementation of the development and upgrading works at the 14 airports during the following weeks, this constructive cooperation continues."