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The occupation of public buildings and plants at midnight marked the beginning of the first 4-hour strike of the employees in the Greek Public Power Corporation (DEI) who are protesting against the bill for the privatization of 30% of the company shares that has been submitted to Parliament.

So far the trade unionists have stopped 13 electric power plants and 1 hydroelectric one with a total capacity of about 2,700 MW, including 4 plants in Lavrio, 4 in Megalopoli, 1 in Komotini, 1 in Florina, 2 at a time in Aminteo, Kardia and Ptolemais and 3 plants in Agios Dimitrios. 7 thermal power plants with a capacity of about 2,200 MW that produce electricity from lignite and natural gas are continuing to operate as well as the hydroelectric power plants.

In this situation, it is very likely for the blackout to begin during the peak electricity consumption in the afternoon.

In parallel, a general protest will take place in the region of Attica at 7:00 pm. The rally will be held at the company headquarters on Halkokondili Street in the centre of Athens and will be followed by a protest march to Syntagma Square and the Ministry of Finance.

The electricity company, DEI, states that the gradual power cuts will be evenly distributed across the country "in a fair way," hospitals being an exception in order to avoid the risk of blackouts. According to the announcement, however, if a problem occurs on the islands the power there will probably be cut too.

It is expected that the list of regions where power cuts will begin will be announced around noon.

To be continued