Risk Management in Transport PPP Projects
In the Islamic Countries
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Despite recent controversies on the merit of the PPP approach, the United Kingdom Treasury
decision model builds on a long experience and is generally considered good practice. The
second concerns Greece, which faced particular challenges as a relatively low-income country
within the EU hit by a severe sovereign debt crisis.
Box 3 The Greek case21
The Greek case is instructive of how an articulated PPP policy framework has progressively
taken shape over the years and illustrates a dynamic policy process leading from a PPP
experience focused on a limited number of major projects to a systematic approach
diversifying into other sectors to assist the country in the recovery after the 2011 sovereign
debt crisis.
The early generation of Greek PPP operations focused on flagship transportation projects. Since
1993, three pioneering projects – the Rion-Antirion bridge, the Athens Airport and the Athens
Ring Road - paved the way for the uptake of PPPs in delivering large infrastructure projects in
Greece and were followed by a further wave of PPP road concessions22. In this early phase each
decision to enter into a PPP contract was subject to individual parliamentary approval.
New legislation introduced in 2005 provided a systematic approach to the planning and
delivery of PPPs, including establishing a dedicated unit within the Ministry of the Economy, the
Special Secretariat for PPPs. The secretariat is tasked with supporting an Inter-Ministerial PPP
Committee and other public entities involved with implementing PPPs, and its structure and
function are aligned with those of other PPP units within the EU. Following the introduction of
new legislation, a number of PPP operations have been launched, including new sectors like
urban development, school buildings and information technology.
In the aftermath of the 2010 sovereign crisis, the country has faced, and still faces, severe fiscal
constraints which widened the infrastructure gap. This condition, coupled with a generally poor
historical performance in delivering infrastructure projects through traditional procurement,
have given strong incentives to the use of PPPs and mainstream the use of EU funds to
support “blended” PPPs (i.e. PPP projects that combine EU grant funding with private
financing resources). At the moment, Greece is a pioneer in the field of blending ΕU grant and
private capital into PPP projects. To what extent the systematic use of “blended” PPPs in multiple
sectors will assist the Greek economy to overcome in the longer term the still distressing effects
of the debt crisis remains to be seen.
20 This can happen – as indicated in the diagram – through partnership models like LEP (Local Education
Partnerships) or LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trusts). Generally, these models are more indicated for
small scale local infrastructure, particularly in the education, social and environmental sector.
21 This Box draws on Carbonaro G., Catalano G., Delponte L., Vignetti S. supported by Addarii F., Lipparini F.,
Zwierzynski, D. (2017) “Public-Private Partnerships and Cohesion Policy”, European Parliament, Policy
Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies, Brussels
22 Some of these road concessions were examined recently by the European Court of Auditors, which expressed
a highly critical opinion on their performance. See above the section Not a Panacea: Controversy Reigns.