ATHENS (Dow Jones)--The board of directors of dominant Greek electricity company Public Power Corp. SA (PPC.AT) agreed Thursday to put off a decision on a controversial joint venture with Germany's RWE AG (RWE.XE) until its January 2008 meeting.
When the contents of the as-yet unsigned memorandum of understanding between PPC and RWE were first revealed in mid-November there was immediate and vocal opposition from PPC's powerful labor union.
In response, PPC's management has since tried to downplay the significance of the MOU. In addition, the Greek government - 51%-owner of PPC - has even been forced to signal that it might veto the potential MOU.
At issue is a provision under the MOU that would give RWE a 51% stake and management control over new jointly built power plants. PPC's employees' union sees the MOU as a step towards the further privatization of the company.