Alternate Finance Minister Giorgos Chouliarakis will represent Greece at Thursday's Euro Working Group in Brussels, armed with figures reportedly showing an expansion of electronic auctions around the country, in a bid to overcome one of two obstacles that prevented the disbursement of a 5.7-billion-euro loan tranche last month.
The figures were first presented to creditors' top auditors in Athens on Wednesday by relevant Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis.
Eurozone finance ministers last month pointed to the implementation of a remaining two "prior actions" - e-auctions and commencement of the Helleniko privatization - as stalling the loan disbursement.
Negotiations in Athens between creditors' representatives and top Greek ministers on Thursday were expected to have concluded by the start of the EWG meeting in the Belgian capital, with the next such contacts coming after Easter.
According to reports on Wednesday, none of the more "sensitive" issues up for negotiation to conclude the fourth review of the current bailout, such as stepped up austerity measures in order to meet fiscal targets in 2018 and 2019, were discussed this week. Both sides merely recorded agreement or disagreement over 88 "prior actions" included in the fourth (and last) review.
