His new master plan was submitted to the Council of State for approval. Piraeus Port Authority which includes your investment plan Cosco Shipping for the port. As long as he gets the green light from State Councila Presidential Decree will be issued, under which the investments envisaged by it will be licensed, and work on the expansion of the passenger port, which was stopped at the beginning of this year after successive refugees of its residents and operators, can begin immediately. Piraeus who opposes the plans under consideration.

Legal circles say the process could be completed by the fall, so they could start before winter hits. In the meantime, other projects are under way, such as an underpass that will connect the Piraeus port land area with the former ODDY’s 80-acre area, an expansion of the car station, as well as infrastructure projects in the shipbuilding repair area.

The resumption of work in the new cruise port, as it is an expansion of the passenger port, will be possible after the approval of the revised PPA SA master plan by the Ports Planning and Development Committee (ESAL) earlier in the summer. The new approval was required following a decision by the State Council earlier in the year that “frozen” the projects. With this decision, the Council of Europe essentially demanded first the approval of the Strategic Environmental Impact Study (SEIS) and then, on its basis, the drawing up of a master plan (general program plan) for all investments in Piraeus, mandatory and non-binding. This is because it is provided for by the relevant framework of the European Union for the licensing of such projects. As the environmental study was finally approved by the competent Greek authorities, it was included in the new master plan submitted for approval, which was secured by the competent Port Planning and Development Commission (ESAL). Now the final step is the approved master plan, which in turn must be verified by the Council of State and become a presidential decree to allow the corresponding works in the port of Piraeus.

Works in the passenger port mainly concern the new cruise terminal.

What happened and the Council of Europe stopped the passenger port expansion project is that, based on a procedure agreed between the Greek state and PPA’s main shareholder, Cosco Shipping, the master plan was first approved in 2018 and then again at the end of 2019. and then the EIA was submitted for approval. The new procedure is now also a pilot for how projects in Greek ports and other concessions can be licensed. Namely, the approval of the environmental study will precede it, after which it can be integrated into the overall investment plan, which, in turn, will, if necessary, acquire the character of a Presidential Decree.

In an official statement earlier this year, the PPA committed to “implement a major investment plan in the country, taking into account any possible adjustments deemed necessary, in accordance with the decisions of the competent administrative and judicial authorities and the concession agreement with the Hellenic State.”