Interview: Piraeus Port sale marks new era for Sino-Greek ties: Greek official

The sale of the majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority to China COSCO Shipping marks a new era for Greece's largest port and Sino-Greek relations, the chairman of Greece's privatization fund Stergios Pitsiorlas told Xinhua in a recent interview.

On April 8, Pitsiorlas signed the 368.5 million euros (420.12 million U.S. dollars) deal on behalf of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund during a ceremony in the presence of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and China COSCO Shipping chairman Xu Lirong.

It was a historic day for Greece and China, he stated during the interview.

Under the agreement, China COSCO Shipping will gradually acquire a 67 percent of stake in PPA over the next five years as long as it will deliver the agreed investments in the port.

The agreement must be ratified by the Competition Commission and by the Greek parliament. Pitsiorlas hoped China COSCO Shipping would formally take over PPA's management by July 2016.

"The entire negotiation was conducted during a very critical year for Greece. During this period Greece was negotiating the new bailout with its creditors, the EU and IMF, we almost reached the brink of default. So the discussion on the PPA agreement was conducted in a very difficult climate," he said.

"The agreement marks the dawn of a new day for Piraeus and Sino-Greek relations and this is a very important development for Greece with positive prospects," he stressed.

Both sides have a lot to win through collaboration at Piraeus. Greece, as the main gateway for Asian products into Europe and vice versa, will reap numerous benefits.

"It is a project spanning over four decades. I am very optimistic, because I believe Piraeus port will be a major push for Greece to move ahead towards a new phase of economic development," Pitsiorlas underlined.

Through cooperation with China COSCO Shipping Piraeus can become one of the largest ports in Europe, he added.

Since 2009, China COSCO Shipping's subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal has been operating Piers II and III under a 35-year concession agreement.

The next steps of Greece's privatization program involve developing train links to the port.

"I believe that Piraeus port in combination with the upgrade of the railways services opens the Silk Road to Europe," Pitsiorlas said.

The Greek official said he expected 10 other major privatization projects across Greece should be off the ground by 2017, including redeveloping the old Athens airport Hellenikon. Enditem