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by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The Greek Competition Commission approved the sale of a majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA or OLP in Greek) to COSCO during its meeting on Wednesday, saying it is in line with Greek competition laws, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
The next and final step for the changing of hands at Piraeus port is for the concession agreement to be submitted to parliament for approval, which was expected to take place this Friday.
After the parliament gives the green light, under the agreement sealed in April COSCO will pay to the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) 280.5 million euros (317.3 million U.S dollars) for the 51 percent of shares in PPA and the management of the port.
Following investments of another 300 million euros total worth in infrastructure works within the next five years, under the deal, COSCO will pay Greece's privatization fund an extra 88 million euros for an additional 16 percent of shares in PPA.
COSCO was declared in February Preferred Investor for the sale of the controlling stake in Piraeus port after winning an international tender.
In March, the Court of Audit approved the deal, while earlier this June the contract was ratified by the general assembly of PPA's shareholders.
One of Greece's leading think tanks, the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), has estimated that the privatization will add a total of 1.5 billion euros to Greek economy until 2052, when the concession deal expires.
Since autumn 2009, China COSCO Shipping's subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) has been operating Piers II and III at Piraeus port under a 35-year concession agreement, posting impressive results.
By taking over also PPA's Pier I officials by both sides and international analysts expect that Piraeus will soon be transformed into a leading transit hub for products and services from Asia to Europe.
The privatization is expected to create thousands of much needed job positions in the recession-hit country and help attract more investments to restore growth to exit the six-year debt crisis. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars) Enditem
