DG Comp

The Finance Ministry is putting off the issue of a five-year bond, which is all set in technical terms, until the domestic political dust settles and the effort to reduce the credit sector's bad-loan stock results in a breakthrough.

The construction of the transit center at Thriasio in western Attica is set to get under way after almost two decades of efforts in that direction.

The latest development concerns the selection of the Mytilineos group to construct the infrastructure of the center that will be developed and operated in the next 60 years by the consortium of ETVA VIPE with Goldair.

In early January, as soon as the holidays are over, the Finance Ministry is expected to submit the Greek proposal for the reduction of local banks' nonperforming exposures (NPEs), which has been processed by the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) with technical details specified by JP Morgan, to the Directorate-General for Competition (DG Comp) of the European Commission.

The tender for the sale of the Henry Dunant Hospital in Athens has come under the scrutiny of the European Central Bank's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the European Commission's competition authorities (DG Comp), following government interventions aimed at seeing the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (and therefore the state) being named the winning bidder.

Athens has short-listed both remaining candidates in the tender for the privatization of Hellenic Petroleum, while Brussels opened the way on Monday - in record time - for the completion of the privatization of gas grid operator DESFA.

For the first time since TAIPED's foundation in 2011, the state sell-off fund is within sight of its collection target for the year.

Athens International Airport shareholders will have to pay dearly to get the 20-year extension of the airport's concession, but a deal to that effect is within sight.

Italian group Grimaldi is preparing to send a complaint to the competition department of the European Commission (DG Comp) against what it sees as the threat of concentration conditions in the Greek coastal shipping sector.

Bad news is coming to Public Power Corporation from Brussels, as a probe by the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition (DG Comp), which started with the unexpected arrival of inspectors at the offices of PPC and grid operator ADMIE earlier this month, has confirmed concerns about the power giant's possible abuse of its dominant position.

The case of state subsidies to railway companies OSE and Trainose is closed, finally opening the way for the latter's privatization next month after a long wait.