Report: France in hunt for Greek business during Macron's visit in Athens

French companies aimed to win more business in Greece and to play a part in new Greek projects on Thursday, piggy-backing on French President Emmanuel Macron’s two-day visit to Athens.

Greece sees Macron’s first visit since he came to power in June as a vote of confidence in the country's economy, which is slowly emerging from a debt crisis that scared off many investors.

Total’s top executive was among around 40 French business leaders traveling with Macron and told a Greek newspaper he expected Greek parliamentary approval to search for oil off the country’s western coast by the end of the year.

Greece and a consortium made up of Total, Italy’s Edison and Hellenic Petroleum have signed a lease deal to search for oil and gas in the Ionian Sea.

“We expect ratification of the agreement by Greece’s parliament by the end of the year to start work,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne told Ta Nea daily newspaper.

Total, encouraged by major gas discoveries off Egypt and Israel, has expressed great interest in Mediterranean blocks and is drilling for oil off Cyprus.

And in a consortium with Exxon Mobil and Hellenic Petroleum, Total has shown interest in exploration at two sites off Crete, prompting Greece to launch a tender.

Moreover, France’s Vinci, which holds stakes in two major Greek toll motorways and operates one of the world’s longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges, is considering participating in new concession projects.

The CEO of Vinci’s concessions arm Nicolas Notebaert told the same newspaper that the firm had expressed an initial interest in the long-term lease of Egnatia Motorway, a major trade route linking Greece from east to west.

France had supported Greece during talks with its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders in 2015 that almost forced the country out of the eurozone, but in July 2015, Greece signed up to its third international bailout in turn for more austerity.

Under its bailout-mandated privatization scheme, Athens plans to launch a tender for the Egnatia lease later this year.

Vinci and Alstom have also teamed up independently with Greek firms to show an interest in expanding the Athens metro. Vinci representatives are traveling with Macron.

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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Gouvernement français License: CC-BY-SA

Source: Reuters