|
The agency announced in March it would proceed
with the sale of the exclusive betting rights to OPAP, the
country's dominant gambling firm, which won the license last
year after offering 40 million euros ($43.26 million).
"HRADF...invited the successful bidder, OPAP Ιnvestments Ltd, to
sign the concession contract on April 24," the agency said in a
statement on Friday.
Betting on horse racing in Greece had been run by a state-owned
group.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Reuters on Thursday
that state assets were one of the thorny issues in talks with
the EU/IMF creditors assessing whether the cash-strapped country
can get further bailout aid.
Privatizations have been a key demand of the country's
international lenders. The election of Tsipras' government in
January on promises to end austerity and block "fire-sales" cast
doubt on the future of Greece's privatizations plan.
Greece has a series of ongoing tenders for the divestment of
state assets, including the sale of a 67 percent stake in its
biggest port Piraeus and the lease of a bundle of 14 regional
airports to a joint venture led by German airport operator
Fraport <FRAG.DE>.
In a reform list sent to the creditors last month, Athens
estimated privatization revenues of 1.5 billion euros this year.
The government has made clear that it will honor all existing
contracts.
It has also said that it favors joint ventures and wants the
state to keep a minimum stake in its assets to boost social
security funding and protect workers' labor rights.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Keith Weir)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
