Italians seen bidding for Greek railways, Russians uncertain - sources

Thessaloniki Port Authority SA

05/07/2016 14:49

By Angeliki Koutantou 
    ATHENS, July 5 (Reuters) - Italy's state railway 
 IPO-FERRO.MI  is expected to bid for its Greek counterpart 
TRAINOSE, but Russian Railways (RZD)  IPO-RZHD.L  is less likely 
to do so, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told 
Reuters on Tuesday. 
    Privatisations, a key part of Greece's international bailout 
agreements since 2010, have reaped just 3 billion euros ($3.4 
billion) so far, far short of the initial target of 50 billion 
euros, amid political resistance, bureaucratic problems and 
union opposition. 
    Binding bids for Greece's railway network are due by 1400 
GMT on Wednesday. 
    Athens is selling TRAINOSE and maintenance company ROSCO to 
meet the terms of its latest EU/IMF deal signed last summer. It 
received non-binding expressions of interest in TRAINOSE from 
Italy's state railway, RZD and Greek construction group 
GEK-Terna  HRMr.AT  in April. 
    Sources familiar with the process said on Tuesday the 
Italians would most likely submit a binding bid by Wednesday, 
but it was not clear whether the Russians would.  
    The Russians did not appear particularly active in the 
process, one of the sources said, while GEK-Terna hadn't taken 
part in due diligence and so was unlikely to bid. 
    "I think that the Russians are interested in the 
Thessaloniki Port," the source said, referring to another asset 
Greece has put up for sale as part of its state-asset sale 
scheme aimed at raising about 6 billion euros by 2018. 
     
    TROUBLED PROCESS 
    The government has not disclosed what it hopes to raise from 
the railways sale, but sources close to the process have said 
the figure was expected to be in the region of 50 million euros  
($56 million) for TRAINOSE and ROSCO together. 
    Without a sale, TRAINOSE could be forced to pay hundreds of 
millions of euros in state subsidies to the European Union. 
    The original deadline for binding bids for TRAINOSE was 
April 26, but it has been pushed back three times this year, 
with investor interest sapped by Greece's protracted economic 
crisis. 
    A delay in TRAINOSE releasing its 2015 financial data has 
been another hurdle to the privatisation, as well as resistance 
from unions. 
    Greek metro and rail transport will come to a standstill on 
Wednesday after workers called a 24-hour strike to protest 
against the sale. 
    "Privatising this kind of property deprives the state of its 
wealth, and a state without property is a ghost-state," said 
Nikos Kioutsoukis, secretary general of Greece's biggest private 
sector union GSEE and member of Greece's railway workers 
confederation. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens and Stephen 
Jewkes in Milan; Editing by Mark Potter) 
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 210 3376436; 
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: EUROZONE GREECE/PRIVATISATION RAILWAYS