Greece cancels privatization plan for northern port of Alexandroupolis

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece has canceled a privatization plan for the northern port of Alexandroupolis.

“The government has decided that under present circumstances the port that has such a large strategic and geopolitical importance for the country should remain as a state-owned property,” Mitsotakis said late Monday during an interview with private broadcaster, ANT1.

Greece repeatedly said it intends to turn the port into a regional hub to transmit liquid natural gas to the Balkans and wider Europe.

The Kathimerini newpaper claimed in September that Washington approached Athens to expand facilities at the port to increase US presence in the Balkans.

Meanwhile, Greece issued a Navtex -- the international navigational warning to ships -- for two areas, off the western-southwestern coast of Crete and off the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese in the Ionian Sea, as part of its efforts on an exploration of hydrocarbon reserves to lessen its dependency on imported energy.

That development came one day after Kyriakos announced that Exxon Mobil will soon start seismic surveys in two new areas for potential energy sources in the Greek waters.

Greek newspaper, Kathimerini, claimed in September that Washington approached Athens to expand facilities at the port to increase US presence in the Balkans.