THE GREEK government will decide next week how to proceed with the privatisation of ailing national airline Olympic Airways (OA), after a deadline in talks with the front-running bidder Axon Airlines expired yesterday.
Greece is expected to say whether it will clinch a provisional deal with Axon or keep the doors open for the two other suitors – Cyprus Airways (CY) and Australian-based Integrated Airline Solutions (IAS).
Greek Transport and Telecommunications Minister Christos Verelis said the government would announce its next step yesterday, but privatisation advisers Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) later issued a statement saying they would not issue their recommendation to the government before next week.
“Following the expiration of the initial negotiation period with Axon Airlines and the receipt of clarifications on their proposals from the Cyprus Airways consortium and Integrated Airline Solutions consortium, (CSFB) will provide its recommendation… by early next week,” it said.
Axon had expected to sign a tentative deal with the government early in September, but Greece last week asked all three bidders to renew their letters of guarantee until October 31 in an effort to keep them involved in the process.
CY has asked Greece to clarify where it stands in the negotiations with Axon before renewing its bid.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
