The development of the Piraeus Port Authority and COSCO

The Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) was established as a state owned company that was part of the government in 1930. The spatial development of PPA’s terminals after the 1970s changed the nature of the relationship between the city and the port, which from then on interacted with maritime municipalities other than Piraeus. PPA currently operates port terminals in many locations. The Piraeus Container Terminal and the shipbuilding zone are situated in Perama, the Carterminal is in Keratsini-Drapetsona and the passenger port is in Piraeus. After 1999, PPA has been operating as a state-owned stock company, while in 2003 it was listed in the stock exchange as an S.A. and 25% of the shares were sold to private investors. In 2005, the government allowed private companies to provide port services in terminal container stations in the PPA and the TPA (Thessaloniki Port Authority). In 2008, international tenders were announced and bids were invited for the concession of the PPA container terminal, in particular for  Pier II in Perama for 35+5 years.

In April 2009, the Greek Parliament passed Law 3755/09. This law validated the contract between PPA and PCT (Piraeus Container Terminal SA) and awarded the concession for Pier II in its entirety and in full operation, together with its mechanical equipment to PCT via a bilateral interstate agreement. The right to construct and operate the Eastern part of Pier III for 35+5 years was also awarded to PCT.

Formerly a regional port, the PPA became a central port of the EU (6th). According to estimates of the National Bank of Greece container traffic will reach 4.7 million TEUs in 2015, up from 3 million in 2012. The Greek economy will benefit from revenues of 900 million euro, which correspond to an added value of 0.4% of GDP.Approximately 9,000 new jobs will be created. NBG analysts (Voumvaki et. al, 2013) note that, other than the direct benefit of increased container traffic, there will be an important long-term impact on the development of businesses around the port of Piraeus:

“We estimate that, by 2018, the added value will increase by 1.1 bn euro for businesses directly connected to shipping and by 2.1 bn for the wider business network -mainly logistics and industrial businesses- that cluster in the area due to increased activity” (ibid. XXX).

In parallel, an indirect impact worth 1.9bn is expected due to an increase in the production of sectors outside the specific network – mainly related to suppliers. Taking into account the aforementioned impacts from the expansion of the business network around the wider area of the PPA’s port terminals, the overall increase in added value will reach 5.1 bn euros by 2018 or 2.5% of GDP, creating approximately 125,000 new jobs.