Former Transportation Minister MK Bezalel Smutrich commented on the completion of the privatization process at the port of Haifa and wrote on his Facebook account: Haifa was completed and the port was sold today to a private company for a fantastic amount of more than a billion dollars.
The good news is that three billion shekels will go into the state coffers. The great news is the promotion of competition in the ports industry. A private company that will operate the port of Haifa and compete effectively with another private company that will operate the Gulf port, and both will compete with the port of Ashdod and the new southern port of Ashdod.
Most of the credit for the move goes to Israel Katz, who led the ports reform with a lot of vision and determination, to the former chairman of the Israel Ports Company and the guru of the Israeli ports industry – Shlomo Breiman – who accompanied him from beginning to end, to the chairman and CEO of Haifa Port – Eshel Armoni and Mandy Salzman , And the members of the Companies Authority who have been working on it in recent years.
But I also had the privilege of taking a small part during the Minister of Transport and being present on the critical path of its completion, resolving the latest difficulties and disputes, closing the ends of the agreement and bringing to the government’s approval the final decision on privatization.
At a time when port efficiency is not something to say the least, and the large queues of ships waiting for the port are charging the Israeli economy a high price, this is an important line for the economy and lowering the cost of living in the near future. So congratulations to the port of Haifa and congratulations to the State of Israel and its citizens, on the way to a free, competitive and more efficient market. “