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Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-02-07
CONTENTS
[01] PASOK raps deals by NBG, ATEbank, Cosmote
[01] PASOK raps deals by NBG, ATEbank, Cosmote
Main opposition PASOK party on Wednesday asked a high-ranking Supreme
Court prosecutor to intervene in four cases of alleged financial
scandal and mismanagement by three state-controlled companies.
Four files detailing what PASOK claims is wrongdoing were submitted on
the party's behalf by its Parliament spokesman George Floridis and
PASOK sector-head for economic issues Vasso Papandreou, both former
ministers. Emerging from the meeting with prosecutor George Sanidas,
Vasso Papandreou stressed that "there are serious questions that had to
be answered" in all four cases.
Specifically, PASOK has criticised the purchase of Turkey's Finansbank
by the National Bank of Greece (NBG), at a price the main opposition
party claims was much greater than its market value; acquisition of the
retail electronics chain Germanos by mobile service provider Cosmote, a
subsidiary of Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), for a
price that PASOK said was roughly four times higher than Germanos'
value; NBG's acquisition of the P&K brokerage firm at "several times
its real value"; and what the opposition party claims are "risky"
foreign investments by ATEbank and a commission it paid to a firm
identified as Ealy.
Though all three companies are listed on the Athens bourse, they are
essentially state controlled, with boards and CEOs nominated by the
government and with the state holding significant ownership in all
three.
According to the Supreme Court prosecutor, preliminary inquiries into
three of the four cases have already begun by the Athens First-Instance
Court prosecutors' office, while PASOK's complaint about the
acquisition of P&K will be referred to a prosecutor for investigation.
Caption: Papandreou and Floridis speak to reporters outside the court
in Athens on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007. ANA-MPA / M. Marogianni.
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