Greek fund launches process to privatize largest national motorway

The board of directors of Greece's privatization fund (HRADF) on Wednesday launched the privatization process of Egnatia Motorway, the country's largest national motorway.

This launch was one of the last few prerequisites for the conclusion of the first review of the Greek bailout program on the way to the disbursement of the next 2.8 billion euro (3.14 billion U.S. dollars) tranche at the forthcoming Eurogroup meeting on Oct. 10.

Egnatia Motorway in northern Greece is fully constructed and extends from the western port of Igoumenitsa to the eastern Greek-Turkish border at Kipoi. It runs a total of 670 km in length.

The concession contract on the right to operate, maintain and commercially exploit Egnatia Motorway also includes three vertical axes connecting it to neighbor countries. Egnatia is Greece's main axis in the north linking all major cities, airports, and commercial ports.

Another prerequisite for disbursing funds is the restructuring of the civil aviation. The vote on the relevant bill has been scheduled for Thursday, while labor unions of air traffic controllers have called rolling strikes at least until Oct. 13 in protest.

It was not yet clear how the strike would disrupt flights to and from Greek airports. In several cases, Greek courts have ruled such strikes illegal and they have been cancelled. Enditem