Greece and Italy are proceeding with the ownership transfer of Greece’s national passenger and freight train operator Trainose to Italian state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) Italiane.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni are expected to finalise the deal and sign agreements this July pending approval by the European Union.
“During the first days of July we will sign the agreement, according to which Ferrovie will acquire the Greek railways,” Gentiloni said while speaking at the Senate in Rome.
Ferrovie has announced investments of 500 million euros on Greek operator Trainose’s infrastructure in order to upgrade its ticketing and information services.
Meanwhile, the European Commission concluded that Greek measures to support the restructuring of Trainose and national rail infrastructure manager OSE, are in line with EU state aid rules. According to European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in charge of competition policy, the aid will facilitate the privatisation of the companies and the opening of the Greek railway sector to competition.
Concerning Trainose, the Commission concluded that the measures in its favour – in particular a debt cancellation, an equity increase and annual grants – worth a total of 1.079 million euros, are also in line with EU state aid rules.
