Chinese COSCO eyes Greek trains, logistics center and airport to build Europe hub

The development and operation of the new logistics center at Thriasio in Attica and the airport of Kasteli in Crete have attracted the attention of Chinese firm COSCO, claims a government official.

According to a government official, the Chinese company is amongst one of those interested for the Thriasio project and likely to participate in the tender. Offers are expected to exceed 250 million euros, with the deadline being the 31st of May

The deadline for submitting a binding offer for the airport in Crete is the 23rd of February, with the government expecting offers to the tune of 850 million euros.

European transhipment hub

Furthermore, COSCO is expected to make an offer for Greece's rail network after becoming the sole bidder for the Piraeus port, in order to to build a European transhipment hub. 

Buying TRAINOSE and Piraeus Port would give COSCO maritime connections to the Suez Canal and rail links to the Balkans and central and Eastern Europe.

Bolstered by December's merger with China Shipping Group , COSCO's focus on Greece is about building market share at a time of anguish in a bruised and oversupplied shipping sector, industry sources said.

It also fits with China's "One Belt, One Road" policy of building a modern Silk Road to boost trade and create an outlet for Chinese industrial powerhouses caught up in the global downturn and slower growth at home.

 Competition for the rail network

COSCO was unchallenged in its $400 million offer for a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port last month and is set to be named the preferred investor.

But it could face competition for the rail network, including from U.S. railroad holding company Watco, one of the individuals said, after Greece relaunched the tender in an effort to drum up more interest. TRAINOSE has an estimated value of dozens of millions of euros.

Privatisation agency HRADF had invited suitors for TRAINOSE, the sole provider of rail services in Greece, to express interest from February 1.

Officials in Greece have said it is too early to comment on specifics, but a sale is almost inevitable: a separate source close to the matter said that without a sale TRAINOSE could be forced to return millions of euros in state subsidies to the European Union.

Growing container traffic

The leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras opposes privatisations and halted the sale of the port and other state assets after winning elections in January last year. The process resumed under a third international bailout of up to 86 billion euros that was agreed in August.

Piraeus Port, near Athens, has flourished under the management of Cosco Pacific, a listed COSCO unit that took over under a 30-year concession in 2009.

It has been credited with growing container throughput from 166,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2009 to almost 3 million TEU in 2014.

COSCO is also among the investors expected to bid for the development and operation of a 250 million euro Greek freight centre with access to the national railway network and Piraeus Port, a Greek government official said on Wednesday. Binding bids are expected to be submitted by May 31.

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