UPDATE: Govt not to support Russian Railways’ purchase of Greek assets

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MOSCOW, Mar 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian government has no money in the current budget to support state monopoly Russian Railways’ purchase of assets in Greece even if the deal is economically feasible, and the company will have to raise money from the market, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov told reporters Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported citing a local newspaper that Russian Railways will bid in a tender for Greek railway operator TrainOSE with China’s Cosco and Italy’s Trenitalia.

“If this (purchase of Greek assets) is commercially viable and sound, the company may attract money on the free market. Russian Railways can do that…It would be unrealistic to speak about plans of state support for the purchase of the asset, at least taking into account the budget that the ministry has,” he said.

The company is studying the purchase and is currently in talks over a package offer, as it is not interested in separate assets, he added.

A source familiar with the plans of Russian Railways told PRIME that the company is preparing documents to bid for TrainOSE and has preliminarily agreed with banks on possible financing of the deal. The company has dropped plans to participate in privatization of the Port of Thessaloniki, the source also said.

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