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Anastasia Balezdrova

Trade unionist from the Federation of employees blocked today the main entrance of the Greek telecom provider OTE. The national flag of Greece and black flags were fluttering above the heavy iron door in the sounds of Mikis Theodorakis’ music. Thus they started their protest actions against the government's plans to sell another 16% of the company shares which today belong to the state.

About 300 people blocked the main entrance of the building and did not allow employees to enter and work. They stopped the vehicles along Kifisias Avenue toward downtown Athens from time to time and the result was more than busy traffic.

Shortly after 10 am, the trade unionists stopped blocking the traffic and later freed the entrance to the main building of the Greek telecom. The today's protest was only part of a series of protest actions that the trade union voted yesterday.

"It is about selling off state wealth. We are talking about infrastructure, the economy of Greece. There is an attempt to give the telecommunications in the wrong hands," said for GRReporter the President of the Federation of OTE employees Panagiotis Koutras. He added that the protests do not just protect the rights of OTE workers.

"This is not associated with the employees. If we have work and good salaries will the problem be solved? We, the workers, are doing whatever we can to prevent privatization. As our role of employees requires but also as citizens of Greece with respect to our history, our ancestors and our children tomorrow. What do they expect us to do? To give the keys of OTE to the Germans? Shall we become slaves in our own country?"

The protesters will block the entrance to the main building of OTE later in the day again. Panagiotis Koutras said that all the actions voted by the union will be taken.  

"They include occupations, interruption of the working process, strikes and rallies along with other state-owned enterprises to prevent and show the problem. Ultimately, the politicians’ tolerance means complicity to us."

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance Georgios Papakonstantinou sent a letter to the management of Deutsche Telekom, which started the operations for the privatization of another 10% share in OTE. For the government, the sale is a matter of days, and the Ministry of Finance has set the goal to announce tenders for the privatization of large enterprises such as the Post Bank, the water supply company in Thessaloniki, the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, the metallurgical company LARKO, the freight railways TRENOSE and the natural gas company DEPA by the end of summer.

Late last night the Deutsche Telekom issued a brief message stating that "the letter of the Greek government does not exercise the right to sell." Deutsche Telekom sources indicated that the contents of the Greek letter is very general and consequently, it simply marks the beginning of negotiations.

According to some sources, representatives of the German consortium are expected to arrive in Athens at the beginning of next week and it is possible the percentage of the sold shares to reach 16%, i.e. the Greek state to withdraw completely from the telecommunication company. These same data argue that OTE staff reduction would be considered during the negotiations.  

The aim of the Greek government is to complete the whole process by the end of June in order to finalize the privatization of at least one large company the shares of which are traded on the stock exchange before the participation of Prime Minister George Papandreou at the summit of the European Union on the 24^th of June.

It should be noted that according to the contract signed between the Greek State and Deutsche Telekom in 2008, if Greece decides to sell a share of over 10% the German consortium is obliged to buy it by the end of 2011 at a price 15% higher than the average stock price over the last twenty days.

The Ministry of Finance expects revenue in the range of 400 million euros from the sale of that share, because the average price during that period was 7,124 euros. Deutsche Telekom’s  senior representatives who will arrive in the Greek capital in the coming days are expected to set two basic requirements on which their decision whether to buy the remaining 6%, except the 10% specified in the contract, will depend. The first requirement is the reduction of the OTE staff which will reduce the production costs and the second one is to reduce the control of the telecommunication company by the National Commission for Telecommunications and Post.

It is expected the representatives of Deutsche Telekom to explicitly require a cut of the OTE staff through the suspension of the permanent employees status for people appointed prior to 2005 or for people transferred in the company from other government services. This is a requirement that Deutsche Telekom often sets and the main argument is that in this way the investment in Greece will be more profitable.