Greece Revives Privatizations With One Difference: More Time

  • Government could be given decades to sell property assets
  • Previous program raised only 3.1 billion euros in four years

The Acropolis museum in Athens, Greece.

Photographer: Angelos Tzortzinis/Bloomberg
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For a lesson in why Greece’s attempts to sell billions of euros of assets have foundered, look no further than the New Acropolis Museum in central Athens.

Although a site was chosen in 1976, court challenges by residents, the discovery of archaeological ruins and political disputes meant it took 33 years to complete the building.