Shareholders of Greek Public Power Corporation (PPC) have agreed to the sale of 24 % of PPC’s subsidiary, national electricity transmission system operator ADMIE, which is in accordance with the third bailout package.
According to the bailout package approved in August 2015, PPC, in which the state owns 51 % stake, have to sell a minority stake in its subsidiary ADMIE or to fully privatize the electricity network by next year.
The Shareholders’ Assembly was supposed to be held on 30 June, but it was postponed due to tension between PPC’s employees and management which escalated prior to the meeting. Head of PPC’s workers’ union Giorgos Adamidis said on the occasion that with the sale of part of ADMIE some 5,000 jobs will be lost. The protests against the privatization of ADMIE were organized this time as well.
CEO of PPC Manolis Panagiotakis said after the Shareholders’ Assembly that the company is planning to expand to foreign markets in the region in order to make up for the losses at domestic market. He said that the company is investigating some opportunities in Turkey, where it already has operations, adding that PPC will soon open its subsidiary in Albania.
State-owned Public Power Corporation (PPC) currently controls about 95 % of Greek retail electricity market, but according to the bailout agreement with Greece’s creditors, the company has to reduced its share to below 50 % by 2020. One of the terms is the the sale of up to 24 % stake in ADMIE, which is currently fully owned by PPC, transmits Serbia-energy.eu