A new generation of public asset development tenders, aimed at attracting strategic investors, is being launched by the government and the Ministry of National Economy and Finance through the Growthfund, in order to increase the value of public assets and enhance their positive impact on the Greek economy.
The program includes assets from the Hellenic Public Properties Company (ETAD) to the 22 regional airports, the Hellenic Saltworks, as well as ports, marinas and thermal springs. With 23 subsidiaries and holdings in seven key investment sectors, and with 11.7 billion euros in assets managed, the portfolio of the Growthfund – i.e. the public asset development body that has absorbed TAIPED – is transformed into a national investment fund.
As competent minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said this week, in the context of the Mergers & Acquisitions Summit, the Growthfund will put forward an emphasis on extroversion, innovation and investments. Its strategy focuses on the transformation of existing public enterprises with digital tools, new business models and a culture of measurable efficiency, on the acceleration of emblematic infrastructure projects through the Strategic Contracts Unit (Project Preparation Facility – PPF) and the transformation into a modern sovereign wealth fund that will also include the new infrastructure investment fund that will be put into operation in the coming months. It will invest in infrastructure related to logistics, technology, energy and the circular economy.
The privatization and utilization program of state assets, according to the Ministry of Finance, will now have three categories of projects. The first concerns ETAD and includes the digital real estate database, and the concession of the Faliro Sports Complex, Vouliagmeni Beach, the Xenia Hotel on Andros, and the historic Thessaloniki Governorate building.
The second category concerns infrastructure projects – i.e. 22 regional airports plus the Kalamata Airport, the Thessaloniki International Fair facilities, the former camp of Gonos, the concession of Thriasio, the Lavrio port tender, the marinas of Katakolo, Patra and Kavala, and the Egnatia Highway.
Finally, there is the Strategic Contracts Unit, which will continue the maturation and tendering of projects of strategic importance, with a total budget of over €8 billion, mainly financed by the Recovery Fund.