ATHENS — "Water was, is and will be a public social good and ιτ is constitutionally guaranteed that 51 pct of EYDAP will remain the property of the Greek state. The privatisation of EYDAP is fake news," Infrastructure and Transport Minister Costas Karamanlis said on Wednesday in an interview with Action24 TV.

Karamanlis explained that EYDAP SA is a listed company, 60 pct of which belongs to the Greek state, while it is enshrined in the constitution that 51 pct of the company will remain in the hands of the Greek state. He emphasised that there was no question of privatisation.

He explained that the current government has decided that other financial instruments should be used for the maintenance of the water supply network and for upgrading the external water supply network, such as the public and private sector partnerships (PPPs). He pointed out that the Greek State uses PPPs for many projects, such as the power supply and the construction of schools.