Public Power Corporation

Greek enterprises are particularly worried about the state of the electricity market, the uncertainty over the sustainability of Public Power Corporation (PPC) and the government's unrealistic plans for enhancing competition, as statements by the head of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) illustrated on Wednesday.

It is a strange quirk of fate that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras - should his government reach an agreement with the institutions in the coming days - is set to preside over the greatest ever deregulation of Greece's electricity market.

Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis arrived on Friday in Kozani, northwestern Greece.

The Public Holdings Company (EDIS), a subsidiary of the Hellenic Holdings and Properties Company SA (the new hyperfund for state asset utilization), will receive the country's small regional airports and regional ports, the inner cabinet decided on Monday. However, no decision was reached on any major issues as the ministers will meet again once Public Power Corporation's fate is decided.

The unions representing workers at Public Power Corporation (PPC) will be meeting on Thursday and Friday to discuss their reaction to government plans for the company's privatization, the head of technical employees, Costas Maniatis, said on Tuesday.

A Greek minister on Monday accused international lenders of reneging on a 2015 bailout deal by trying to force a fire-sale of its main electricity utility PPC to serve "domestic and foreign business interests."

Greece's international creditors are proposing the sale of 40 percent of the lignite and hydroelectric power plants of the Public Power Corporation, starting from July, and ending in the first half of 2018, according to a draft of the plan seen by Kathimerini.

The government has been forced by the country's creditors to return to a three-year-old plan for the sale of part of the production capacity of Public Power Corporation, although this time, the so-called "Small PPC" to be privatized is expected to constitute more than the 30 percent originally foreseen, and in many respects the terms will be tougher too.

Just as the Greek government is negotiating with its creditors about the future of the Public Power Corporation, PPC is teetering on the brink of financial collapse, as its liquidity shrinks by the day and new financing of 200 million euros that the power giant is negotiating with the banks has not yet been secured.

The government is seeking a new line of defense against pressure from the country's creditors for a written commitment regarding the sale of 40 percent of Public Power Corporation's lignite and hydroelectric plants.