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Chairman of the Privatisation Agency Stelios Stavridis resigned on Sunday night. His resignation was immediately accepted by Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras. Stavridis became Chairman of the agency in March 2013, following the fact that the then Chairman Takis Athanasopoulos became the main culprit in the case against the Board of the Greek National Electric Company for damages in 2007. Stavridis had previously been Managing Director of the Public Water Supply Company.

According to a publication of Proto Thema newspaper, Stelios Stavridis travelled by the private jet of businessman Dimitris Melisanidis, one of the shareholders of Emma Delta, which a few days ago bought a 33% stake in the Greek state lottery. The transaction amounted to 652 million euro, 622 million of which was paid in cash and the remaining 30 million euro will be paid over a period of 10 years.

In a special statement, Stelios Stavridis said that he used the aeroplane of the businessman after the signing of the deal. He was with his family on vacation on the island of Cephalonia and returned to Athens just in order to sign the transaction documents. He had to fly early next morning, when Dimitris Melisanidis suggested that he use his private plane, by which the businessman intended to return to France that night.

Stavridis’s deputy, Yiannis Emiris, told Reuters that the privatization programme of the Greek government will not be affected by his resignation.

Reshuffles in the Greek Privatization Agency became a tradition. Stavridis was in the position for about five months, and his predecessor Takis Athanasopoulos also headed the agency for several months. His predecessor, Konstantinos Mitropoulos also resigned because he publicly admitted that bureaucracy hinders any kind of privatization in Greece.