Greece plans “mammoth” privatizations for 2024

Greece hopes to raise more than 5 billion euros ($5.29 billion) in 2024 from the sale of state assets, including a stake in Athens airport and concession agreements for two toll roads, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The euro zone’s most heavily indebted state has since 2011 raised about 10 billion euros from government asset sales, a key element of its recovery plan after memoranda that expired in 2018 kept it afloat during a decade-long debt crisis.

The amount

The 5 billion-plus amount targeted for 2024 will be the highest amount raised from privatizations in a single year, Dimitris Politis, CEO of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund-HRADF told Reuters.

He said that figure included an estimated 1.5 billion euros from the long-term concession of the Egnatia Road, a 658-kilometer (411-mile) toll road in the north.

It is worth noting that the agreement – initially – was supposed to be completed in 2023, as the national elections delayed the court’s approval of this agreement and its ratification by the parliament.

Greece had previously forecast privatization revenues of 2 billion euros for 2023 and 3.3 billion euros for 2024.

Major transactions

Two other major transactions, the sale of a 30% stake in Athens Airport through an initial public offering (IPO) and the long-term concession of Attica Road, a 70-kilometer (44-mile) ring road in Athens, will help raise “the highest revenue that have ever been collected in one year” in 2024, said Mr. Politis.

The country aims to list the Athens airport in the first quarter and the sale could fetch more than 750 million euros, Politis said, adding that German-based operator AviAlliance, which owns 40% of the equity, will acquire an additional 10% premium over the AMK price.