Reuters reports that Piraeus Port Authority boost its investment plans to lure more businesses. The majority of the port is owned by China’s COSCO shipping, who hopes to make Piraeus port into its gateway to Europe.
The new plan sees additional spending on building and operating a fourth container terminal which will boost Piraeus’ total throughput to 10 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) a year from 7.2 million TEUs now, and a much smaller mall.
A PPA official informed that the Authority submitted to the Greek shipping ministry an 800 million euro plan. Yet, the plan is to be discussed on September 25, when it is alleged that the ministerial committee will approve it, unblocking crucial investments for port infrastructure.
Recently, the new Greek Government unveiled its plans on boosting domestic shipping, and making the Greek flag more attractive to Greek shipowners.
However, the development of the port has, many times, faced barriers and challenges, as in April 2019 Greece’s Central Archaeological Council (KAS) halted the Cosco-owned Piraeus Port Authority’s (PPA) $675m master plan by characterising a large part of Piraeus as an area of archaeological interest that must be protected.
PPA now holds the 51% of the port has to decide on the mandatory investment of 300 million euros by 2022 to acquire an additional 16% stake.
