Piraeus port, Cosco sign agreement on West Pier container Terminal III
An agreement between Piraeus Port Organisation (OLP) and the Chinese-owned Cosco subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) for new investments amounting to 230 million euros in Piraeus' port was signed on Monday, the Shipping and Aegean Ministry announced, Hellenic Republic Greece in UK reports.
The agreement, originally announced on November 12, was signed in the presence of Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and needs to be reviewed by the European Union and ratified by Greek Parliament.
The agreement includes the construction and exploitation of OLP's West Pier Container Terminal III by PCT, the construction of an Oil Refuelling Pier and the upgrade of Pier II and East Pier Container Terminal III with new mechanical equipment.
According to the ministry, the investment is expected to create 700 new jobs directly and 1,500 indirectly, and will ensure the growth prospects of Piraeus' port.
Representing OLP were TAIPED state privatisation agency CEO Yiannis Emiris and OLP president and CEO George Anomeritis, while representing PCT were its deputy manager Angelos Karakostas and its CEO, Captain Fu Cheng Qiu.
The rent fee to be collected by OLP as a percentage of PCT's turnover remains unchanged at 21 percent until 2016 and 24.5 percent as of 2017, while there will be a suspension of the minimum guarantee, which will be counterbalanced by the increased, annual, guaranteed capacity of the piers under PCT's management (4,750,000 TEU).
The agreement will be forwarded for review to the state Court of Audit, the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition, OLP's general assembly of shareholders. It will then be tabled by the ministry in Parliament for ratification.