Greece vowed to kick-start its stalled privatization drive in 2004 with a new round of sell-offs, but investor caution ahead of elections in March has put major deals onto the back burner until after the polls.
Greece topped its 3-billion-euro privatization revenue target in 2003 and set an equally ambitious goal for 2004, with state asset sales seen as key to reducing whopping public debt.
But after almost four months of talks, Spanish gas company Gas Natural said last week that it was discussing with the Greek government a delay in its purchase of a 35 percent stake in Greece’s dominant gas company DEPA until after the vote.
“The logical thing would be to wait for a new government,” Gas Natural Chairman Antonio Brufau told journallists.
The main sticking point in the deal, estimated to be worth around 250 million euros ($314 million) is Gas Natural’s request for quarantees that th eoperating framework will not change.
But the opposition conservatives, which lead the rulling Socialists in opinion polls ahead of the March 7 election, have criticized the sale plan as it stands now.