A privatization plan for part of the Greek State’s 35.48 percent stake in Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) will be delayed for next year as current market conditions are not favorable, while the procedure could even be reassessed from scratch, sources have informed.

This delay, sources said, has already been approved by the country’s lenders, who have admitted the ELPE privatization has never represented a restructuring plan for the Greek economy, but, instead, is a cash-collecting initiative incorporated into the wider effort to reduce public debt.

A government plan to sell the Greek State’s ELPE stake through the Athens bourse was recently reported as finalized and ready for implementation next month.

The Latsis group’s Paneuropean Oil, ELPE’s main shareholder with a 45.5 percent stake, has been allowed a more influential administrative role at ELPE since the summer’s Greek election brought in a new government.

Energy minister Costis Hatzidakis, speaking in Greek Parliament, has noted there is no intention to sell the Greek State’s entire ELPE stake. It remains unclear what the level of the Greek State’s percentage in ELPE could be following the privatization.

TAIPED, the privatization fund, holds the Greek State’s stake in ELPE. A sale of this stake through the bourse would require a legislative revision.