Brussels: Representatives from Greece`s international creditors are due in Athens in the coming days, the European Commission said, with sources saying logistical issues had pushed back an expected arrival date of Friday.
The officials from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund are due in Athens after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to start talks on a new bailout for Greece.
"The institutions are expected in the coming days," a spokeswoman for the Commission told AFP, without specifying an arrival time.
A source close to the negotiations added: "The mission is being prepared. We are still discussing a location (for the negotiations) as we have to find an accessible place to work, near the ministries."
A second source spoke of "logistical problems."
German newsapper Handelsblatt said the Greek government was trying to put the officials up around 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside Athens, despite the fact Tsipras had said they would be in the centre of the capital.
It added that the creditors were "annoyed" by the development.
The Greek government kicked out what was previously known as the "troika" of creditors, who are widely loathed in Greece, after the election of Tsipras and his Syriza party on an anti-austerity platform in January.
The aim of the new cycle of talks is to finalise a third international bailout for debt-stricken Greece by August 20, when it has to pay more than 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to the ECB, followed by a 1.5 billion euro payment to the IMF in September.
Tsipras and his eurozone partners reached a deal at an all-night summit on July 12-13 to give Greece a new rescue programme in exchange for tough reform conditions, including the return of the creditors to Athens.
The Greek premier spoke by telephone with French President Francois Hollande on Friday on the implementation of the eurozone summit, adding that they both "reaffirmed the importance of respecting the commitments in the agreeement."
Greece`s parliament has voted through two package of reforms since the summit, as demanded by its creditors, to qualify for a three-year bailout worth between 82 and 86 billion euros.
The next steps are now for the creditor teams and Greece to thrash out more "prior actions" or key reforms that must be put into place before any bailout money is paid, European sources said.
They must also decide on a timeline for disbursements over the next three years, and work out a deal on budgetary targets for Athens, which has fallen back into recession, they said.
The aim is to clear those steps by August 6 or 7 so that the bailout plan can be approved by the creditors, several national eurozone parliaments, and Greece`s parliament before the August 20 deadline.
