Greece seeks investors for 17 marinas; procedures move slowly

The Kyriakoulis group is expected to submit today a binding offer for the concession contract of the Iteas marina, unless a new last-minute extension is provided.

However, the concession of Greece’s 17 tourist ports is proceeding at a snail’s pace, like the rest of the privatization program, mainly due to the pandemic. The Kyriakoulis group was the only one that expressed initial interest in the Iteas marina, which has the capacity to moor 140 boats over a 6-acre land area.

A few days ago, an extension was given until July 14 for the expression of interest in the tender for the concession of Aretsos marina in Thessaloniki, one of the most important assets of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) in the field of tourist ports.

The marina has a 388-moor capacity on land of 20 acres in the area of Kalamaria. The fund claims that the extension was decided at the request of interested investors, although some associate it with reactions from the municipality of Kalamaria and other bodies. In addition, the presidential decree for the new land zoning plan is pending.

For the marina of Mykonos, which is also high in the priorities of HRADF but without much progress in recent years, the fund has included the entire port of the island with three distinct activities (passenger shipping, cruise and marina). Thus, in order for the concession to proceed, the Master Plan for the whole port must be completed and then the concession of each activity must be evaluated.

The Asset Development Plan (ADP) of the HRDH, approved last week, states that within the second half of the year the tender procedure for the concession of the Argostoli marina is planned to begin. The marina has a land area of about 12 acres and the ability to moor 190 boats. It is estimated that it has a total buildable area of 3,300 square meters for tourism and leisure uses.

For the marina of Zakynthos, the ADP states that it has a land area of 7.6 acres and the ability to moor 275 boats. At this time, a technical and legal assessment of the marina is being carried out with the aim that at some point the drafting of the tender issue will proceed.

For the Mandraki marina in Rhodes, with the possibility of mooring 175 boats and a land area of 3 acres, a technical and legal assessment is also being carried out.