News24com Greek state mulls giving up majority stake in power firm
Two Greek state asset agencies with a combined 51% stake in the Public Power Corporation, plan to lower their participation in the company.
David McNew / Staff / Getty
The Greek government is looking into dropping its majority stake in state power provider PPC, whose dominant position in the country's energy sector has long been in the crosshairs of EU regulators.
Two state asset agencies with a combined 51% stake in the Public Power Corporation said late Thursday they were "considering" to lower their participation in the company.
They said they would instead hold a blocking minority, which would allow the state to retain a veto within the company.
The announcement by the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations and its subsidiary came after the PPC announced a 750-million-euro ($879-million) share capital increase.
The decision to lower their participation in the company will be made based on "market conditions and with the support of external consultants".
An extraordinary general meeting will be held on October 19 to approve the capital increase, the PPC said.
The PPC is the largest supplier of retail and wholesale electricity in Greece.
The European Commission has been pressuring Greece for years to reduce the PPC's dominant grip on the domestic energy market.
The EU in March had opened a formal antitrust investigation "to assess possible abusive behaviour" by the state provider in the wholesale Greek electricity sector.
Earlier this month, the commission approved Greek state plans to allow the PPC's competitors to purchase more electricity on a longer-term basis.
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