Cosco Shipping

A spokesperson for Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden has confirmed media reports that Piraeus, Greece's largest port, has been excluded from the European Ports Alliance due to significant ownership by the Chinese shipping group Cosco.

The European Union's scrutiny of foreign investment suffers from blind spots because some EU members do not carry out screening and those that do have widely different approaches, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said on Wednesday.

Growth in container traffic at the port of Piraeus has slowed down. The fast pace at which it expanded since Chinese state-owned Cosco Shipping leased two docks in 2009 - before eventually becoming the port's majority shareholder - appears to be a thing of the past.

Greek and Chinese officials and business representatives explored ways of boosting bilateral cooperation in shipping and trade during an investment event held in Piraeus on Tuesday.

The event was organized by Shanghai's Pilot Free Trade Zone Lingang Special Area at the premises of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), a member of China's Cosco Shipping group.

The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, at the Maximos Palace.

Container handling at Piraeus Port Authority recorded a marginal decline in 2020, significantly smaller than that recorded in Northern Europe or in the rest of the Mediterranean.

Sources say last year closed with a drop of just 3.75% in handling activity, which owner Cosco Shipping officials consider to be quite a feat given the recession in global trade due to the pandemic.

From the Mediterranean to the Baltic, Belt-and-Road-Initiative (BRI) projects are gradually getting back on track, despite challenges related to worldwide travel restrictions and production stoppage.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in Europe in early spring, Chinese companies have been trying their best to minimize the damage to their businesses and implement their projects.

Cosco Shipping has asked Greece to hand it another 16% of the share capital of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), in which it already holds a 51% stake, citing Greek authorities' delays in the licensing of the investments the 2016 concession contract provides for.

Piraeus port handled a total of 5.65 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2019, becoming the top port in the Mediterranean, Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) has announced.

The digital transformation of Greek ports - i.e. the adoption of procedures that will reduce the number of documents required for activities ranging from unloading ships to customs processing - has divided Piraeus deeply.