Greece has sealed the sale of its biggest port, Piraeus, to COSCO, the state controlled China Ocean Shipping Company, marking the second major privatization for the country since 2015, DW reported. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signed the contract Friday alongside COSCO Chief Executive Xu Lirong. According to Greece’s asset development fund, TAIPED, the Chinese company will pay the cash-strapped eurozone country €368.5 million ($ 418.8 million), and also promises to invest another €350 million in the port. The sale, which had been long in the making and had been canceled as part of an overhaul of austerity-driven reforms last year, was another step towards the privatization of key state assets. However, according to Greek media, the country’s goal of raising €50 billion through privatization is still a long way off. So far, not more than €3 billion had entered the state coffers that way. The total value of the contract is €1.5 billion.
