A Greek prosecutor from the Court of First Instance has been asked to continue his investigation into the concessional contract between the state and a consortium of Greek contractors for Attiki Odos, the 65-kilometre highway that spans the periphery of Athens.
The Appeals Prosecutors’ Office has, according to sources, rejected the conclusions of the original probe carried out by Giorgos Haliasos, which suggested that no wrongdoing could be uncovered and has ordered him to investigate the matter further.
The highway, which also links the Greek capital with Athens International Airport, was built by a consortium of Greek companies – Elliniki Technodomiki, Aktor SA, J&P – Avax Pantechniki SA, C.I Sarantopolous SA, TCGC SA, Eteth SA, Attikat SA, Alte SA, TEG – which are also responsible for managing the road and collecting tolls via the project operator, Attikes Diadromes.
The Supreme Court had ordered a probe into the details of the contract and to establish whether it damaged the state’s interests and on what basis the calculations were made for allowing the private consortium of contractors to manage the highway and to collect tolls for a fixed period.
Construction of the highway began in 1996 and the first section opened in 2001. The original budget for the project was 1 billion euros but was overshot by a considerable amount.
Source: Kathimerini