Thodoris Dritsas

By Nikos Roussanoglou

The Finance Ministry attempted to backtrack on the issue of the privatization of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) on Tuesday, releasing a statement to revise what senior ministry officials had said a day earlier.

The Greek Finance Ministry denied on Tuesday that it is planning to go ahead with the sale of a 67 percent stake in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) after a report suggested that the privatization would take place.

The ministry emphasized, though, that it is "positively inclined" to the existing deal with Chinese shipping giant Cosco for the container terminal.

By Nikos Roussanoglou

The subject of the first clash within the government appears to be the country?s main ports ? specifically the privatization of the port authorities of Piraeus and Thessaloniki.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's New Democracy party responded on Tuesday to statements made by a candidate for the main opposition SYRIZA party, suggesting a renegotiation of several privatization projects and in particular of the cargo terminal at the country's main port in Piraeus.