Gov't is backing down on PPC and DESFA privatizations

The government is keeping all its options open as regards the future of Public Power Corporation and increasing competition in the electricity market, but it appears it has been forced to move ahead with the sale of 66 percent of the natural gas grid operator (DESFA) despite wishing otherwise.

Under pressure to complete the second bailout review and to resolve the multiple problems in the domestic market, the government has not ruled out slicing off a part of PPC and selling it to the private sector (a so-called "Small PPC"), as Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis made clear in the context of Thursday's joint press conference with European Commissioner for Energy Miguel Arias Canete in Athens. Stathakis departed from the non-negotiable view in favor of 51 percent of PPC staying with the state, to "a strong and sustainable PPC."

On the sidelines of the press event,...