In the first real conflict since last year’s privatisation of the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) the Greek state and Chinese group have clashed, though Cosco, as owner of 51% of the Athens-listed PPA has got its way.
At a recent re-convened general assembly, the Greek state sell-off fund Taiped, which holds 23.14% of the voting rights, voted against Cosco’s proposal for an amendment of an article in the company’s charter so that continental China and Hong Kong can be included among the locations for the meetings of the PPA’s governing board.
Originally, when the issue was raised Taiped requested time to examine the matter as it held reservations over whether such an amendment might be seen as a de facto change in the company’s domicile.
Cosco argued it sought the change in a bid to be able to promote to the Chinese market and public opinion its strategic holding in Greece in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, which might bring additional trade agreements for PPA.
However, Taiped’s legal team was not convinced, and at the resumption of the general meeting the state’s representatives said they had not had sufficient time to examine the issue legally and voted against the amendment.
Even so the motion was successful, as Cosco controls the majority of voting rights while all major Greek and foreign institutionals with a holding in PPA voted in favour too. A total of 82.8% of shares were represented at the meeting, and of those 62% voted for the inclusion of China and Hong Kong among possible board meeting locations, such as shareholders Lansdowne Partners of the UK, US investment manager BlackRock, and Greek fund management companies Delos Greek Growth and Alpha Trust.
Legal sources told say the claim regarding a de facto change in domicile is “far-fetched” and they attributed the reservations of the state’s representatives to possible “overzealousness.” On the other hand Taiped says the fund is continuing to examine the matter, in cooperation with Chinese legal firms, to clarify which legal status will prevail for the decisions made in China or Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the PPA and Greek unions are putting the finishing touches to a new general labour code, liberalising the decades-old regime that existed in the port under the former state-run administration. A new labour code, incorporating a new collective bargaining agreement, is set to be in place by September.
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