After two years of negotiations, Greece’s privatization agency finalised the sale of Astir Palace, the landmark luxury resort in Vouliagmeni, a seaside Athens suburb, to Turkish-Arab fund Jermyn Street Real Estate. The two sides agreed on the sale of a 90 per cent stake of the iconic hotel complex, for the price of €400 million ($573.8 million), ending a long discussion often disrupted by elections, change of government – and specifically, by the Syriza-led government’s initial opposition to privatizations.
Privatizations are part of the bailout programs implemented in Greece, but the government has been reluctantly going through with the process, which is met with resistance by the public sector unions. Among the factors that stalled the sale of the luxury resort to the real estate conglomerate representing investors from Turkey, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait and other Emirates, was the court ruling of the planned construction as illigal, according to the Greek laws. The two sides agreed on an amended special zoning plan, aligning the plot’s development with the ruling.
“The positive conclusion of the Astir sale … is an excellent example of a constructive and productive cooperation between all state institutions and the private sector, opening the way for the country’s growth”, stated Stergios Pitsiorlas, chairman of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), the government agency in charge of privatisations.