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After the carriers’ strike Greece is awaiting new adventures in the coming autumn with the project for privatization of power plants in the country. Upon recommendation of the inspection mission of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and European Central Bank (the Triple), Greece should immediately draw a program to privatize the Public Power Corporation, whereby 40% of the it should become private. Electricity unions, in turn, said that if the government of George Papandreou proceed with the sale of the power company they will leave Greece in the dark.  

The energy sector is also included in the plans of the socialist PASOK government to liberalize the local economy. This once again will lead to a real public response. “If the Minister of Finance George Papakonstantinou guarantees that the electricity price will be lower after the company's selling out the unions would agree with the privatization even today,” said Nikos Fotopoulos – president of GENOP – before his meeting with the Minister. The union leader said for GRReporter that the Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Tina Birbili disagrees with the process of privatization. The statement of the Secretary of the Ministry Konstantinos Matiudakis to Reuters that the proposal to sell will lead to serious legal and technical problems for which the ministry does not support the privatization plans confirms this position.
 
The sale of 40% of potential power production is part of the Memorandum of financial assistance to Greece by the Triple. According to it the country will receive € 110 billion over three years while implementing in stages the conditions included in the contract. Konstantinos Matiudakis stresses, however, that any alternative proposal by the Government to save money without resorting to privatization should be discussed if the Triple are open to debate. There is no such a proposal submitted so far making it much less likely for PASOK to have a second rescue plan in early September.
 
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy, on the recommendation of the Energy Regulatory Commission, announced that new price increases of electricity will be effective by early autumn this year. The price for households can jump twice at some places, and the price for agricultural and industrial enterprises will increase up to 60%. This will inevitably lead to a new rise in prices of goods and services after the tax increase in the first half of 2010. Economic experts in the country commented that a similar grow in the price of electricity will only further accelerate the rising inflation in Greece, which now reaches 5.4% compared to the average 1.7% in the Eurozone countries.