Customers see improvements at Thessaloniki port six months after privatisation

Thessaloniki, Greece (Ports Europe) October 2, 2018 - There has been a general positive response to the new management of Thessaloniki Port Authority SA (ThPA) since the company's privatisation on March 23, 2018. ThPA is operated by South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki (SEGT) Ltd, a consortium, in turn, owned by Deutsche Invest Equity Partners GmbH (47%), Terminal Link SAS (33%) and Belterra Investments Ltd (20%). Exporters, tour operators, hauliers and customs agents perceive changes for the better after the privatisation, despite the fact that time was not sufficient for substantial changes, as people and machines working on piers and platforms to serve of the loads have not changed or been strengthened. George Konstantopoulos, president of the Exporters' Association of Northern Greece, said, "We are satisfied with the better service and the increase in traffic in the port. At the same time, the shift problem at the 16th Gate Customs office serving the free zone needs to be restored so that the harbour operation returns to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It has been an issue since the beginning of August and its resolution is not entirely dependent on ThPA, but on the Independent Public Revenue Authority". "The first examples of port operations under private ownership are good," says the president of marine agents of Thessaloniki, as well as the whole of Greece, Vasilis Kampakis , who with 45 years of experience in the port is perfectly able to "read" the signs. "It is a good effort, the times have been shortened to the container terminal and the ThPA's ways of behaviour and communication have been improved with the port customers," said Kabakis, who underlines that the first really critical point from now on is the renewal of mechanical equipment, which is expected to be realized in the first months of 2019. For his part, the vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, Giorgos Eliades, who is active in the road transport sector, is satisfied with the activities of the last six months in the port of Thessaloniki. "Waiting time for cargo within the port has been curtailed, which improves costs," he said, stating that the expansion of the reception hours of the containers to 9 am had a positive impact. He also points out that the speed of cargo handling is even more valuable if it is projected in the future when, as all stakeholders believe, there will be a substantial increase in traffic in ThPA. The assurance of the fact that in the last few months the traffic of the containers from the terminal of the port of Thessaloniki has been normalized, the chairman of the Association of Customs Brokers, George Kosmidis, "Ships do not wait, there is regularity in passing the vehicles from the gates, while the workers work more efficiently," he says, while pointing out the problem with the customs. "The absence of the night shift creates a malfunction mainly Monday morning," he notes, explaining at the same time that "even if we only spoke on the press, the port of Thessaloniki must work 24 hours a day, seven days a week." Source: Voria Copyright (C) Ports Europe. All Rights Reserved. 2018.

Customers see improvements at Thessaloniki port six months after privatisation

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Customers see improvements at Thessaloniki port six months after privatisation

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Table: Russian ports monthly cargo results Oct’23-Oct’24

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Reference: Russian occupation of neighbours’ territory

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