Argentina’s Labor Leaders Warn of Resistance to President-Elect Milei’s Radical Reforms

Right-wing populist Javier Milei has been president-elect just four days and already Argentina’s unions and social organizations are vowing pushback and even protests if he makes good on his promises to slash the size of the state and privatize companies.

Athen einigt sich mit Geldgebern: Kraftwerke werden privatisiert

Griechenland und seine internationalen Geldgeber haben die laufenden Beratungen zu weiteren Reform- und Sparmaßnahmen erfolgreich abgeschlossen.

Greek MPs ratify deal for sale of majority stake in Piraeus port to China's COSCO

Greek lawmakers ratified on Thursday with an overwhelming majority the landmark concession agreement with China's COSCO Shipping for the acquisition of a majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA or OLP in Greek).

Greece reaches deal with creditors on fresh measures

Greece's government struck on Friday evening a deal with auditors of international lenders in Athens on the next set of measures to unlock a further one billion euro (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) bailout installment to the debt laden country in coming weeks.

Poroshenko invites Russia to join creditor’s decision on debt restructuring

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has invited Russia to join the decision of the ad hoc Creditors’ committee on debt restructuring since it will have no privileges in this sphere.

Greece Puts 27 State Assets Up for Sale to Pay Off Debts

According to the Dikaiologitika news portal, the largest of the assets destined for privatization are 14 regional airports in Greece.

Greece announces deadlines for port, railway privatization tenders

Greece's privatization fund announced on Thursday deadlines for the submission of binding offers for tenders concerning the privatization of Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports and the state railways TRAINOSE-ROSCO.

Lenders conclude Cyprus's 7th program review

Cyprus's international lenders concluded their seventh review of the eastern Mediterranean island's bailout program on Friday, revising upwards their projections of economic growth for the country.

Greece carries out first privatization under radical left government

Greece's radical left government Friday carried out its first privatization since coming into power three months ago, by selling a 20-year horseracing gambling license to a subsidiary of Czech-Greek company Opap for 40.5 million euros.

Greece betrays principle of contract by halting port sale

[By Liu Zhun Source:Global Times Published: 2015-1-29 0:03:29]
As soon as he assumed office, new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced he is about to halt a landmark deal to privatize the country's biggest port of Piraeus. China's Cosco Group, a State-owned global shipping giant, had submitted a bid, but now, according to the new government, the sale will be reviewed.

State aid: Commission concludes that Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) did not receive state aid

European Commission, Press release, Brussels, 9 July 2014:

The European Commission has concluded that a Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) that Denmark, Sweden and Norway granted to SAS in December 2012 was carried out on market terms and therefore did not constitute state aid within the meaning of EU rules. 

SAS is the major air carrier in Scandinavia. Its four biggest shareholders are Sweden (21.4%), Denmark (14.3%), Norway (14.3%) and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation (KAW) (7.6%). SAS's financial position has been problematic for several years and its financial performance has deteriorated significantly since 2008.

Greek government orders striking workers back to work

The Greek government issued a civil mobilization order on Saturday to force back to work public electricity corporation DEI-PPC workers who have been on strike since Thursday over plans to privatize the firm.

The strike has reportedly caused brief power cuts across Greece.

Government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi made the announcement shortly after the striking workers' main trade union GENOP-DEI said that they would not respect a court ruling on Friday night that their strike was illegal.

Grèce: vraiment bénéfique, le programme de privatisations?

Les bailleurs de fonds de la Grèce, Union européenne et FMI, s'impatientent face aux difficultés du programme de privatisations du pays, censé contribuer au redressement de l'économie mais dont la pertinence est controversée.

Après trois ans d'efforts, pour de maigres résultats, le doute s'est installé dans l'opinion publique qui commence à se demander si la vente des entreprises et des biens de l'Etat lui apportera quelque bénéfice.

Pour les syndicats du privé et du public, notamment celui du secteur de l'électricité, il est certain que la privatisation des entreprises de distribution d'électricité et d'eau et des infrastructures de transport entraînera des hausses de tarifs, dans un pays déjà en récession depuis six ans.

Eurobank buys Greece's postal bank

ATHENS: Eurobank, one of Greece's biggest lenders, on Saturday acquired the country's postal bank, one day after purchasing Proton Bank, the Greek financial stability fund said.
"The Hellenic financial stability fund (HFSF) completed the competitive tender process for the sale of the Hellenic Postbank and decided to proceed with its sale to Eurobank," the fund said in a statement.
On Friday, Eurobank announced that the HFSF had approved its purchase of Proton Bank and that the final agreement was set to be signed on Monday.
The postal bank's sale will also be finalised on Monday, HFSF has said.
Protesting against the expected sale, the Hellenic Postbank's employees staged a strike on Friday.
An earlier attempt to privatise the postal bank back in January had flopped, because of a lack of interest in bidding.

Greek PM addresses Chinese academics

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Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has given a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His speech topped the agenda of his China tour. He’s the first Greek Prime Minister to visit China since the two countries signed an agreement on developing a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2006.

Greek PM visits China, aims to boost ties

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras kicks off his first visit to China. The PM’s entourage includes almost all his fellow ministers, as well as a business delegation. The trip may help Greece attract buying interest for its state-owned assets.

Rounds and rounds of austerities. Greece is struggling to get more aid from its international lenders. The country needs to raise 50 billion euros by 2022 through the sale of state-owned assets. The trip to China may be critical to reach this target.

The challenges of privatizing the Public Power Corporation

By Jonathan Stearns & Natalie Weeks

In the mountains of northern Greece (MACEDONIA) lies an $800 million power plant whose future may help determine whether the country can salvage its euro status.

The facility near Florina (MACEDONIA), a town known as “Where Greece Begins,” is the most modern of four production units that state-controlled Public Power Corp. (PPC) is scheduled to sell to competitors to meet four-year-old European Union demands that the country deregulate its energy market.