The signing of the agreement for the acquisition of the majority stake
took place at the premises of HPA S.A. in Heraklion, Crete, in the presence of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Kostis
Hatzidakis, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Christos
Stylianides, the First Vice President of the Hellenic Parliament, Giannis
Plakiotakis, the Bishop of Knossos, Methodios,
the Governor of the Region of Crete, Stavros
Arnaoutakis, the Mayor of Heraklion, Alexis
Kalokairinos, the CEO of HRADF, Dimitris Politis, the President and
CEO of Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A., Emanuele Grimaldi, the CEO of Minoan
Lines, Loukas Sigalas, the President of the Board and Managing Director
of “SYMMETOCHES LIMENOS IRAKLEIOU S.A.”, Paul Kyprianou, the Concessions Senior
Manager of Growthfund, Dimitris Konstantakopoulos, the CEO of HPA S.A., Minas Papadakis, the President of the Board
of Directors of HPA S.A., Ioannis Vardavas and executives from
HRADF.
With the acquisition of a majority stake, following a tender conducted
by HRADF, the port of Heraklion enters a new era of growth. HPA S.A. acquires a
strong shareholder, and HRADF, which retains 33% of the share capital of the
Authority, a strategic partner. Moreover, the shareholders' agreement signed
between HRADF and the investor secures the Fund's position as a minority
shareholder safeguarding the interests of the Greek State.
50% of the 80 million euros fee will be allocated to the "Special
Account for Port Infrastructure Development" at the Bank of Greece,
created to finance investments for the development and upgrade of the ports in
HRADF's portfolio according to the provisions of Law 5131/2024.
HRADF, in its capacity as Port Planning Authority, will continue to
assist the investor in all stages of the approval process of HPA’s Master Plan
for the development of the port of Heraklion, which is part of the broader plan
of the Government for the upgrading of the infrastructure of Crete, along with
the construction of the Northern Road Axis of Crete and the New International
Airport of Heraklion.
The port of Heraklion is the first in the country to receive external
verification by TUV AUSTRIA for its ESG performance, using the “ESG RATING
TOOL” developed by HRADF. The certification process was coordinated by HRADF's
Sustainability Department, which annually evaluates all ports in its portfolio
based on ESG criteria, using its own digital tool "HRADF ESG RATING
TOOL".
