Demolition works finally began on Wednesday at the Helleniko site in coastal southeast Athens, where the biggest privatization in recession-battered Greece has been held up for several years due to proverbial Greek bureaucratic 'red tape', political opposition at all levels - mostly by leftist formations - as well as a bevy of legal challenges.
The Helleniko property development project is billed as one of the biggest in Europe, with a price tag reaching up to eight billion euros. The concession for Helleniko had been awarded, in an international tender, to a consortium led by Athens-based and listed property developer Lamda Development, with the latter now the sole partner behind the ambitious investment.
A formal inauguration of the works, mostly to demolish structures that once operated as part of the old Athens airport, will be held on Friday morning, in the presence of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The Greek premier and his center-right New Democracy (ND) party had been vocal proponents of the privatization finally getting under way, something also specifically cited as prior actions in memorandum bailouts signed by successive Greek governments with international and European creditors.
