COSCO

The government and Greece's creditors have agreed that the contract for the concession to the ETVA BIPE - Goldair consortium of a freight center on a 0.59-square kilometer plot at Thriasio, western Attica, owned by state railway property firm Gaiaose, will be approved in Parliament by next month.

The European Court has rejected Greece's appeal against the decision it reached in March 2015, whereby it deemed that state funding to Piraeus Container Terminal SA (SEP), the local subsidiary of China's Cosco Shipping, was not compatible with European legislation.

The government is attempting to appoint staff to positions at the privatized Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) and to cancel a tender that OLP has already set in motion, with two amendments tabled for inclusion in a Shipping Ministry bill to be discussed on Thursday in Parliament.

China, that vast Asian country of Confucius, Mao and modern-day communist capitalism, is the centerpiece of this year's Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), which got under way this weekend in Greece's second largest city.

"Between September 9 and 17, the center of Thessaloniki will be transformed into a mini-Chinatown," says Tasos Tzikas, president of TIF-Helexpo.

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED) is preparing to hire advisers to explore the privatization of 10 port authorities in which it holds stakes.

Although the process relates to all 10 ports, sources suggest that the first to be sold will be that in Alexandroupoli as it has already attracted substantial interest domestically and internationally.

Container traffic at Greece's biggest port in Piraeus contracted 4.4 percent last month, according to data published by Chinese operator Cosco, which showed that the port handled 309,000 cargo containers this July compared with 323,300 in the same period last year.

The first conflict since the privatization last year of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) has emerged between the Greek state and Chinese group Cosco, the owner of 51 percent of the Athens-listed company.

One in every four employees at the recently privatized Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) has expressed an interest in transferring to the broader state sector.

Business at Greece's two privatized ports, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, could increase the country's gross domestic product by up to 5.6 billion euros a year, a survey by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) has found. The strategic position of Greece's two main ports is seen as crucial for international trade.

Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) chief executive Fu Chengqiu referred on Friday to the prospect of shipbuilding resuming in Piraeus as well as elsewhere in Greece, in the context of a joint visit with cabinet members to the Perama Ship Repair Zone.