Yesterday, we “celebrated” the Greek government decision to seal the deal and give the privatization of the country’s top 14 regional airports to German-Greek consortium Fraport-Slentel. Yesterday, we welcomed German state-run enterprise FRAPORT for ‘helping Greece’ as some German media underlined. Today, FRAPORT seems to reconsider the offer it made to Greece in October 2014. “One billion two million euro and 330 million for investment? I don’t think so…” Fraport seems to think.
See also KTG’s article: German FRAPORT wins bid for Greece’s 14 top regional airports
According to daily Kathimerini, the German- Greek Fraport-Slentel Consortium now asks from the Greeks more guarantees, even though these are not specified, at least in the Kathimerini report.
“Kathimerini understands that the consortium is asking for more guarantees from the Greek government following the uncertainty of the last few months. The group is also facing greater financing costs due to the higher country risk associated with Greece.
This has raised doubts about whether Greece will able to reach its bailout target of receiving 1.2 billion euros from the agreement by the end of the year.
“The Greek government’s decision is not tantamount to the conclusion of a contract but rather offers a basis for the resumption of negotiations,” Joerg Machacek, a Fraport spokesman, told Bloomberg on the phone on Tuesday. “We are building up from where we left off.” (via Kathimerini)
The government approval is “rather a basis for the resumption of negotiations”? LOL This reminds me the good old German comments during the Greek crisis negotiations the first half of 2015. Every Greek proposal sent to eurogroup and other Troika – Institutions, the reaction mantra was always: “The Greek 2- to 47-page austerity proposal could be a basis for negotiations.”
My mean cat, who is just half-Greek, asked me this morning “Why did Fraport-Slentel keep its offer alive if it had decided otherwise?” and she reminded me that end November 2014, the Fraport-Slentel Consortium was officially proclaimed the ‘prefered bidder’ by the Greek Privatization Fund (HRADF).
PS Now, I suppose, all mean two- and four-legged Greeks are digging in the Consortium-Greek Privatization Fund tender conditions to see if there is a clause that fines the bidder if he withdraws the offer after announced as ‘tender winner’.
Fra-port has turned into Fra-ppe, I’m afraid…
UPDATE: Greek government reacted to FRAPORT’s new conditions and gov’t sources said that “if FRAPORt wants renegotiation, these will be comprehensive and not just on the issues raised by the company.”
The same government source said also that “the completion of the lease of the 14 regional airports, without altering the terms was agreed by the previous government, and it was (understandably) one of the explicit conditions of the 12th July agreement” with the creditors.
“The government complied fully with the agreement on August 18, and published the relevant decision on Official Gazette No. 240.V / 2015,” the source added.
First they thought only Frankfurters will be allowed to fly with their subway-ticket but then they figured uii, Austria wants to get paid for taking Trainose for free…
But why then Greece is sending more ferries to Kos and Lesbos? Germany can deliver her promised humanitarian aid, send her Legion Condor and pick up their 40.000 refugees, but this was only meant for Grexit, as the antisocial alternative of fat Gaby was Grexit – (no) hunger or Euro – (no) hunger.
It would be even smarter to pick them up in Izmir, it would save life and keep people out of even more trauma and some of them would even have money to start investigation against German journalists that panic the refugees since days by telling them about the fence in Hungary.
It’s really a crazy picture as thousands of volunteers wait in Germany to help them while hundreds of cameras film how they die on their trail of tears up north or distort it the usual way: Showing a refugee get kicked out of the boat by traffickers in Bodrum while the news speaker tells it like it happened in Kos…
Not even one priest gots the minimum idea of letting them get a normal ferry ticket from Turkey.
The Tsipras govenment answer is NOT very clear!
“BOYCOTT GERMANY IN GREECE” would be a sweet name for a smart travel agency as to avoid German run airports will get more and more complicated unless one doesn’t bring back the good old times of travelling through Yugoslavia via Autoput.
It’s really crazy… So far one needs to fly to Patras to get to Athens, Iraklio or Izmir for the islands and for the north Preveza or Skopje.
May be it’s also an idea to build up new airports very fast close to the Frapports or use military airports to bring in the German boycotting friends of Greece and the diaspora, an investment for 40 years!
Imagine the headlines “New Greek airports in record times to avoid the sell-out” or as a movie-script it will get prices, someone should paint it as a comic-book.
The economic deterioration over the past 10 months makes Greece less attractive country to invest in. The current government should try to keep the conditions negotiated by the previous government, and conclude those privatization deals quickly.
To call this ECB-corruption and Frankfurt-City-Mafia-rip-off “invest in Greece” is utterly ridiculous and pervert. Frankfurt will pay tax in Germoney or Luxembourg if any, they pay 40 years long mini-rent without any inflation-bonus for Greece.
The only thing Greece will may be get out of this is tax from cabbies if they will find any that can pay the airport-fees and tax on wages from the employed people if Frankfurt will not sack them all plus some tip from a few more all inclusive tourists fed with German food that comes also from Germoney.
It’s nothing and the people will all get sacked because they will find any reason for it in the memorandum…
Tourism means also no future for Greece because in 20 years Greece has no more drinking water left over, the rest will be needed for potatoes to not die of hunger.
10 months??!! What Never-Never land nonsense is this: it’s the last 5 years. And the privatisations are for the benefit of Germans, not for Greeks.