By A. Tsimplakis
[email protected]
A Greek shipping ministry-affiliated committee on Tuesday nixed a series of ambitious projects included in a draft master plan submitted by the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA), which since August 2016 has passed into the control of Chinese multinational Cosco.
The development essentially means the end of the "honeymoon period" between the Greek state, and specifically the current Tsipras government that implemented the major port privatization, and Shanghai-based Cosco, a global giant in shipping and port management.
A decision by committee members, following meeting lasting into the late evening, also cited discrepancies over the projects that Cosco must implement at the port as part of a concession agreement, mostly environmental impact studies.
Cosco is obliged to pump another 293 million euros in investment at the PPA.
Closely watched projects that failed to receive the committee's "green light" were a shopping mall next to a new cruise ship terminal, one of four proposed hotels, the creation of a logistics center within the port premises and adjacent to the Keratsini municipality, the installment of a synchrolift, as well as two new parking areas.
The initial response by Cosco, although still unofficial, was "displeasure, towards all sides involved."
