Greece Names Advisers For Privatization Program

Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal
March 23, 2011

Greece's government Wednesday named advisers for its ambitious EUR50 billion privatization program, which it hopes will help pay down the country's giant public debt and allow the it to return to the capital markets after being effectively frozen out for almost a year.

The finance ministry said in a statement that it would present a detailed plan of its overall program--which calls for EUR15 billion in privatizations by 2013 and EUR50 billion by 2015--within weeks.

"The plan is currently under development and will be completed and will be presented within the next weeks," the statement said following a meeting of the government's interministerial privatization committee.

However, the committee proceeded to appoint advisers for the first three projects, and said it would follow up with naming advisers for another half dozen planned privatizations by the end of the second quarter this year.

In a statement, the finance ministry said it had named France's BNP Paribas SA (13110.FR) and the National Bank of Greece SA (NBG) to act as advisers in its efforts to extend the privately managed concession for the Athens International Airport.

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