ECNS.cn — COSCO SHIPPING completes acquisition of Greek port

China's State-owned shipping giant, China COSCO Shipping Corp (COSCO SHIPPING) and the Hellenic Republic Asset -Development Fund on -Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding on the transfer of a majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) in Athens.

This represents the formal completion of the transfer of a 51 percent equity holding in the PPA and the custody of an additional 16 percent stake, Shanghai-based COSCO SHIPPING said in a press release sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Under the agreement, -COSCO (Hong Kong) Group, wholly owned by COSCO SHIPPING, officially became the controlling shareholder of the PPA and took over its management and operation, said the press release.

It is the first overseas acquisition transaction signed by COSCO SHIPPING following its establishment in February 2016, a landmark initiative for the company to expand its global network.

According to the new concession contract, COSCO SHIPPING will invest 293.8 million euros ($327.4 million) in a series of mandatory projects in the next five to seven years, including the expansion of the cruise port, noted the company.

The company said it owns over 46 container terminals all over the world.

ECNS.cn
COSCO SHIPPING completes acquisition of Greek port

Spiegel — One Port, Two Worlds: China Seeks Dominance in Athens Harbor

A Chinese executive with shipping company Cosco has helped transform part of Athen's Port of Piraeus into a success story. The multinational firm now has a controversial plan to acquire the whole facility and put it on track to join the ranks of Hamburg and Rotterdam.

Spiegel Online International
One Port, Two Worlds: China Seeks Dominance in Athens Harbor
Alexander Smoltczyk

The privatization of the Port of Piraeus, which Syriza opposed, is now going forward

Hat tip to my good friend and MNE contributor, Roger Erickson, for this.

(Reuters) - The Greek government will sell its majority stake in the port of Piraeus within weeks, the country's deputy prime minister told China's official Xinhua news agency, a flip-flop from the leftist government as it seeks funds from its creditors.

The Syriza government of Alexis Tsipras took power in January on promises to end painful austerity, saying it would halt a string of privatisations including the sale of a 67 percent stake in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP). Read article.

#NoBALLS

Well, okay, first of all I called this from the very beginning. I called the eventual capitulation by Syriza, by Tsipras, by Varoufakis. Go back and read my blog entries starting from January 26.

But enough of patting myself on the back. If you care anything about breaking the global grip of the oligopoly, the neoliberal rape, the plutcratic plunder, then this has to make you want to puke. Another sellout by the phoney, cowardly, BallLESS, (add your own adjective), liberal, progressive, left wing.

They go down so easy, don't they? No stomach for fighting. No stomach for just about anything except getting down on their knees and giving hand jobs to the elites. So quick to cede power and control to the plutocracy...willingly...on a silver fucking platter. Each and every time.

I'm just wondering what Syriza will do next? Re-fire those rehired workers?

And by the way, we'll be getting another taste of it here in the U.S. Guess who's being anointed Senate Minority Leader? Chuck Schumer (D-NY), friend of Wall Street and war, those two great, liberal Democratic values.

Schumer had in the past “succeeded in limiting efforts to regulate credit-rating agencies, for example, sponsored legislation that cut fees paid by Wall Street firms to finance government oversight, pushed to allow banks to have lower capital reserves and called for the revision of regulations to make corporations’ balance sheets more transparent.”
His behavior has changed very little since the crisis.

When Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ted Kaufman (D-DE) introduced an amendment to break up the largest banks, they were able to recruit the support of a handful of GOP senators, but Schumer worked alongside the Obama administration to kill it. He insists that capital gains tax rates stay lower than those of other income, a direct gift to fund managers. Read the rest of the article here.

Who needs the GOP when you have guys like Schumer?