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Guest FriendofGreece

Piraeus port deal hits snag as Cosco says Athens changed deal

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Guest FriendofGreece

How can the Greek government change the terms of the deal unilaterally like this? This story is all over the media. Not good for investors' trust.

 

http://www.ekathimerini.com/210009/article/ekathimerini/news/piraeus-port-deal-hits-snag-as-cosco-says-athens-changed-deal

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Guest HappyAsHellas

It seems strange to me that this comes out at a time when Tsipras isn't home, and none of the articles I could see gave any details whatsoever about what was changed. I am always sceptical about un named spokesman, government/reliable source and such nonsense. If you have the facts, then by all means tell us, we are adults and can form our own opinions. As for the story being all over the media, BBC Europe don't have it listed anywhere. Why not wait till Tsipras has his little Chinese mission and find out what happens then? Who owns ekathimerini and when have they ever written a single good word about Syriza?

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Επισκέπτης

The Greek government negotiated an agreement with COSCO but when it came to the vote in the Greek Parliament they just replaced the text agreed upon with the Chinese with something else. Tsipras is blaming his secretary of Maritime affeairs Dritsas for the switcheroo. Dritsas though claims that the orders came straight from the Prime Ministers office. And this is definitely the case cause nothing of that magnitude could happen if Tsipras had not ordered it.

 

As far as the changes are concerned,

Well in essense they tried to change the terms of the agreement in a way that enables the Greek side to extort and strong arm COSCO down the road. In the modified agreement they removed the clause that states that the Greek authorities are to respond within a reasonable amount of time to request for permits that are essential for operations. With that clause out of the way the Greek side could essentialy block COSCO operations indefinetely on the grounds of technicalities and extort them. They did the same thing with the Canadians who invested in the Goldmines in Skouries.

 

The whole thing amounts to fraud. But hey, That's Greece.

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Guest HappyAsHellas

That does sound extremely dodgy to say the least, but given that ekathimerini are no lovers of Tsipras, why would they not give us the facts surrounding the case instead of mere implications? The only actual quotes are from opposition members who are probably jealous because they're not running the scam. Wow.

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Guest FriendofGreece

Looks like there were 7 changes as per the tornos link, but they are not listed.

 

http://www.tornosnews.gr/en/tourism-businesses/new-investments/16913-greek-minister-s-amateur-handling-of-cosco-deal-jeopardises-relations-with-china.html

 

http://www.ekathimerini.com/210044/article/ekathimerini/news/government-u-turn-after-cosco-fiasco

 

I don't know what they are trying to do between the Greeks, but when there are foreign investors involved, and there is such a paucity of them now, maybe they should refrain from playing games like these. 

 

When I look at all the investments and developments the Chinese did in Serbia and other Balkan countries and East European countries, Poland being the latest one I read about, I feel sorry for Greece. The way Cosco has been treated in Greece since the beginning is enough to deter the Chinese from making much more needed investments in Greece.

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Επισκέπτης

The Kathimerini and To Vima are serious and objective publications and they both published details on the COSCO debacle. You are just not getting it Tsipras and his whole crew are thugs. In every other country they would be in jail. But the rest of the Greek political elite is not much better. Shacking down foreign investors has a long tradition in Greece. Andreas Papandreou did elevate it to national policy. That's why there is not much foreign investment going into Greece.

 

As far as COSCO is concerned, their presence in Greece has the potential to change Greece's economic outlook dramatically. Landing a container in Piraeus instead of Rotterdam means cutting delivery time from China to Central European markets by almost one week. Considering the volume of Chinese exports that could transform Greece into a major logistics and distribution hub. COULD! But it wont happen. What good are containers sitting in Piraeus when the Rail tracks to central Europe are blocked for weeks cause a couple of hundred refugees or whoever decide to camp out on the tracks while the police is standing idly by?

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Guest FriendofGreece

I remember Cosco expressing their concerns once to the Greek government about the rail tracks being blocked at Idomeni because that entailed deviating through longer routes which cost more money. 

 

Greece is in a unique position to seize the opportunity provided by the Chinese new Silk Road connecting the sea road with the land road (with the railways). I think Greece is one of only two countries that make that connection. It is a humongous opportunity for Greece to recover its economy.  

 

http://en.rfi.fr/europe/20160701-greeks-look-china-save-economy-after-row-over-harbour-selloff

 

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/port-piraeus-a-rising-star-in-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative/

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Guest FriendofGreece

Despite the economic troubles of Greece, China has a lot of respect for Greece because of its history. 

 

Upcoming visit of Tsipras in Beijing:

 

http://english.cctv.com/2016/07/01/VIDEcZD7lVde2H2IHvMumozH160701.shtml

 

The strong maritime and shipping industry of Greece:

 

http://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/economy/16940-chinese-ambassador-greece-has-always-been-a-reliable-partner-for-china.html

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Επισκέπτης

Oh well,

 

He is already on the shit list with the Chinese after that stunt he pulled with COSCO.

The Chinese can of course read maps and they can sea that the first EU port a container ship coming through Suez encounters is Piraeus but they still fail to comprehend the extent of Greek stupidity. If the Dutch had this geographic advantage they would translate it to at +100 bil GDP. The Greeks can only produce loses for everyone involved and COSCO will find out soon enough.

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Guest FriendofGreece

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