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A lawyer and a banker will manage the Greek privatization

11 July 2011 / 21:07:23  GRReporter
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A lawyer and a banker were appointed to be in charge of the privatization commission, which will undertake the privatization of hundreds of Greek enterprises to collect 50 billion euros. Privatization revenues in the next five years are crucial for the partial reduction of the Greek foreign debt as well as for the additional funding from European countries and the International Monetary Fund.

On a proposal by the Minister of Finance Evangelos Venizelos, the commission was headed by the labour law professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Yannis Koukiadis. He has significant academic experience; he was the Minister of Employment in the interim government of Ioannis Grivas and in the coalition government of Ksenofontas Zolotas in 1989. He was also President of the Hellenic Organization for Labour Law and Social Security and participated in the management and operations of many organizations, dealing with labour relations law. Furthermore, he was chairman of the Association of Lawyers in northern Greece for four years.

Yannis Koukiadis is the author of several books, one of which is the "European social law. Before and after Maastricht" and "Labour law - labour relations." He became a MEP with the PASOK ballot in 1999. During the last debate before the adoption of the first part of the law on market liberalization, Koukiadis supported the reforms, but later criticized the increase in the tax burden. The lawyer returned to academics in 2005 and is teaching at the Law School of the University of Thessaloniki now.
 
Although Yannis Koukiadis is the President, according to Greek analysts the banker Konstantinos Mitropoulos will be the main figure in the privatization processes in Greece. He is the Chairman of Eurobank EFG Equities and the head of Investment Banking in the group of Eurobank. This is one of the largest brokerage companies, which provides advice on mergers, acquisitions and privatizations. Konstantinos Mitropoulos is the founder of the consulting firm KANTOR SA with offices in Brussels, Bucharest and Warsaw. He was chairman of the board of the company until 2008.

Mitropoulos is an Imperial College graduate where he obtained a master's degree in economics, and later became a PhD at London Business School. He has consulting experience in the fields of energy, transport and financial services and his clients are from Central and Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union, Africa and the UK. He is hoped to move the heavy wheel of the Greek privatization which should report a sale literally every ten days in the next five years. Konstantinos Mitropoulos is the Vice-President of the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce and his nomination for the position in the privatization commission is supported by New Democracy.

Andreas Taprantzis, a former CEO of the Greek National Post (ΕLΤΑ) and current President of the International Council of Posts, assumes the position of chief assistant. He holds a Master’s degree in financial studies and is legitimate auditor on quality control. He has experience in consulting firms like the Greek telecommunication company OTE, British Telecom, TeleDanmark, Royal Society of Arts, Royal Mail as well as in the European Commission, IDV Group, American Home Products, and the Greek Ministry of National Economy.

He said the privatization of the national post ELTA would increase the market competitiveness and would contribute to reducing the prices of postal services. "Obviously, the main objective of this process will further enhance the competitiveness of the company and will contribute to the full liberalization of the postal market. It will also generate significant profits for the state," said Taprantzis for the Greek edition Hrima.

The Chairman and CEO of Athens Water (EIDAP) Antonios Vartolomeos, proposed by New Democracy, also holds a post in the privatization commission. He is a lecturer at New York's Fordham University and has experience in the financial sector, lending, real estate and securitization of mortgage loans.

Last but not least is Anna Zoirou, who is an economist and consultant to the European Commission and her nomination is supported by the far-right party of George Karatzaferis, LAOS. According to the Espresso edition, the mother of Mrs. Zoirou was collaborator of Karatzaferis when he was a New Democracy deputy. Then, the young Zoirou met Karatzaferis in Brussels, while MEP. They are collaborators for a while, and then she became a lecturer at City College in London and later – the head of the Marketing Department at the National Tourism Authority.

Tags: EconomyCompaniesPrivatizationGreece
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