http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_15/02/2012_428151
By Vangelis Mandravelis
Last spring, after Greece’s creditors demanded that the country draw up a plan for raising revenues of 50 billion euros through 2015 from the sale of state assets, the government at the time appeared pretty confident that its program would succeed.
Nine months later, the plan has all but collapsed, and instead of generating 5 billion euros in revenues in 2011, the privatizations and licensing program only brought 1.8 billion into the state coffers, and this from entities which had already made plans to make investments, such as license extensions by gaming company OPAP and mobile phone companies and a 10 percent stake in OTE bought by Deutsche Telekom.
For 2013, the redrawn privatization program foresaw revenues of 9.3 billion euros, although the new entity managing the process, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), estimates that at best, only 4.7 billion euros will be garnered over the course of the year. In fact, last week, TAIPED chief Ioannis Koukiadis described the program as being up in the air and its targets arbitrary. TAIPED adviser Andreas Taprantzis, speaking to Bloomberg, further said that the target of 50 billion euros may not be attainable until 2020.
The uncertainty that has prevailed in regard to Greece’s future in the eurozone and the disbursement of further funding from its creditors has certainly played an important role in the derailment of the privatization program. Ever since September, when the government attempted to renegotiate the memorandum, setting the sixth tranche of its bailout in jeopardy, and up until the present day as negotiations continue, Greece has been in a precarious position that has scared off serious investors.
This was clearly apparent in the case of OPAP, which in addition to buying new gaming licenses also wanted to acquire the license to operate the state lottery, which is a monopoly. Under different circumstances, OPAP may have easily got its hands on several billion euros of funding in order to do just that. As things stand, however, it was only able to raise 300 million euros, and this from Greek banks. In the end, the organization had to join forces with another three companies for the acquisition of the state lottery license.
State asset sales program besieged by obstacles
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Last spring, after Greece’s creditors demanded that the country draw up a plan for raising revenues of 50 billion euros through 2015 from the sale of state assets, the government at the time appeared pretty confident that its program would succeed.
Nine months later, the plan has all but collapsed, and instead of generating 5 billion euros in revenues in 2011, the privatizations and licensing program only brought 1.8 billion into the state coffers, and this from entities which had already made plans to make investments, such as license extensions by gaming company OPAP and mobile phone companies and a 10 percent stake in OTE bought by Deutsche Telekom.
For 2013, the redrawn privatization program foresaw revenues of 9.3 billion euros, although the new entity managing the process, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), estimates that at best, only 4.7 billion euros will be garnered over the course of the year. In fact, last week, TAIPED chief Ioannis Koukiadis described the program as being up in the air and its targets arbitrary. TAIPED adviser Andreas Taprantzis, speaking to Bloomberg, further said that the target of 50 billion euros may not be attainable until 2020.
The uncertainty that has prevailed in regard to Greece’s future in the eurozone and the disbursement of further funding from its creditors has certainly played an important role in the derailment of the privatization program. Ever since September, when the government attempted to renegotiate the memorandum, setting the sixth tranche of its bailout in jeopardy, and up until the present day as negotiations continue, Greece has been in a precarious position that has scared off serious investors.
This was clearly apparent in the case of OPAP, which in addition to buying new gaming licenses also wanted to acquire the license to operate the state lottery, which is a monopoly. Under different circumstances, OPAP may have easily got its hands on several billion euros of funding in order to do just that. As things stand, however, it was only able to raise 300 million euros, and this from Greek banks. In the end, the organization had to join forces with another three companies for the acquisition of the state lottery license.
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