And waiting in the wings: the redevelopment of the old Athens airport in Hellinikon, a seafront suburb south of Athens. Despite years of delays, once it gets underway sometime in 2020, the massive €8 billion project – covering a land area more than twice the size of Monaco – will be the largest urban redevelopment project in Europe. And it will radically upgrade the coastline south of the Greek capital, the so-called Athenian Riviera.
But investment interest extends to other sectors as well. Industries like energy, financial services, food, healthcare, technology, and logistics, have all seen direct foreign investment in the past two years. Likewise, an ambitious privatisation and public works programme, involving roads, ports, airports, railroads, and utilities, has drawn investment from companies in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
“There has been a shift in increased acceptance by the wider public for privatisations as assets have matured, and the increased level of service and efficiencies, more generally, are easier to demonstrate and understand. Furthermore, our strategy has evolved, and the experience we have gained has allowed us to revise and improve how we mature, develop, and actually privatise assets,” adds Lambiris.
According to Greece’s privatisation agency, more than €9 billion have gone into the Greek economy through the capitalisation of public assets. After adding in concession fees and planned private investments to those newly acquired assets, a total of €20 billion has been injected into the Greek economy.
One flagship energy project is the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) being built across northern Greece. The pipeline, which will bring natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe in 2021, has brought €1.4 billion into Greece and is acting as a cornerstone in Greece’s new role as a regional natural gas hub. Apart from TAP, two other gas pipelines and two new natural gas processing facilities are either in the works or online. Those projects, complemented by a slew of energy privatisations in the oil, gas, and power sectors, are establishing Greece as an energy hub for southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, investments in renewable energy are also taking off, with some €9 billion expected to be invested in wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects over the next decade, and with a goal of installing 9,000 MW of capacity.
Altogether, Greece foresees total investments of €44 billion or more in its energy and environment sectors by 2030, according to the country’s new national energy plan.