ATHENS, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), Greece's privatization fund, launched on Friday procedures for the sale of its minority stake in the Athens International Airport SA (AIA) "Eleftherios Venizelos".
HRADF invites interested parties to submit expressions of interest to participate in an international tender process for the acquisition of a 30 percent stake in AIA, read an e-mailed press announcement.
The tender process will be conducted in two phases, a pre-qualification phase and a binding offers one. Interested parties are invited to submit an expression of interest on September 30, 2019.
AIA was established in 1996 as a Public-Private Partnership with the purpose of building, maintaining and operating the airport for 30 years under the respective Airport Development Agreement.
Currently, the shareholders of AIA are the Greek State (25 percent), HRADF (30 percent) and private shareholders collectively hold 45 percent.
"Eleftherios Venizelos" airport started operations in 2001, ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The seaside area in southern Athens where the old airport operated, was also included in HRADF's portfolio and a 7-billion-euro (8 billion U.S. dollars) worth agreement was sealed five years ago.
In February 2019 the extension of the AIA concession agreement took effect for an additional 20 years, after the company paid 1.4 billion euros.
AIA is the largest airport in Greece, handling 24 million passengers a year, of which 16.4 million are international travelers. (1 euro= 1.14 U.S. dollars)
