The Council of State (CoS), Greece’s highest administrative court, on Monday released a decision essentially scrapping an investment-laden master plan by the Cosco-controlled Piraeus Port Authority (PPA).
The port authority controlled by Chinese multinational is obliged to make tens of millions of euros worth of investments at Greece’s biggest and busiest port, as emanating from a landmark concession agreement in 2016 with the Greek state – a privatization signed by the then SYRIZA government under the weight of the third bailout memorandum. However, PPA had announced a series of strategic investments beyond the scope envisioned in the concession deal.
The master plan had earlier been approved, among others, by a shipping ministry-affiliated ports planning and development committee.
A majority of CoS justices said previous approvals of the master plan were null because an overall environmental assessment was not conducted for a series of specific projects – as per national and Community law.
Cosco-managed PPA wants to expands the passenger port at Piraeus, southward, build another passenger terminal, allow the construction of four new hotel units within the port authority, expand the vehicle import terminal, erect a five-storey parking lot and construct eight hectares of new storage space.
The decision essentially means that PPA will have to revisit the licensing and approval procedure but with an environmental assessment and impact study in the voluminous file.
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