Greece kicks off sale of gas distribution network
Greece has launched the sale of gas distribution network DEPA Infrastructure, with the state and Hellenic Petroleum both set to offload their stakes, the country’s privatisation agency said on Monday.
Having emerged from its third international bailout last year, Greece had agreed to sell gas utility DEPA under an agreement with its European lenders and the International Monetary Fund to help open up the gas market and attract investment.
The conservative government, which took office in July, has vowed to speed up privatisations to help boost growth. Parliament last month passed legislation to break up DEPA, paving the way for the sale of the state’s 65% stakes in DEPA Infrastructure and gas supply company DEPA Commercial.
“In order to make a success out of the energy transition, we need investments,” Deputy Energy Minister Gerassimos Thomas told an investors conference in New York late on Monday, adding that DEPA Infrastructure plans to spend about 380 million euros ($419 million) to expand the gas network by 2023.
Hellenic Petroleum, which holds the remaining 35% of both companies, has signed a memorandum with the privatisation agency to divest their stakes in DEPA Infrastructure, it said on Monday.
News of an imminent sale was reported by Reuters earlier on Monday.
The deadline for expressions of interest expires on Feb. 14, 2020, the tender document shows.
Meanwhile, the tender process for the state’s 65% stake in DEPA Commercial is expected to begin in January, Thomas said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou Editing by Kirsten Donovan/ David Goodman/Susan Fenton)