Electricity utility Public Power Corporation (PPC) said yesterday it is considering taking part in a tender to develop a lignite field in Kosovo as part of its expansion plans abroad. “Public Power is investigating the possibility as part of its development plans in Southeast Europe,” a company official told Reuters. The Serbian province, under United Nations administration since 1999, will tender contracts to develop its lignite fields in the Sibovc region and build power generation plants. PPC is seeking to secure alternate sources of lignite as Greece liberalizes its energy market, allowing competitors access to the cheap fuel. State controlled PPC has had exclusive use of lignite in Greece. (Reuters)

Retailer Hellenic Duty Free Shops (HDFS) is planning to spend up to 250 million euros on acquisitions over the next two years, a senior official said yesterday. “I estimate we could buy two or three retail companies in the next two years, spending 200-250 million euros maximum,” HDFS investor relations director Theodore Gitzos told Reuters. HDFS, majority-owned by Greek jeweller Folli-Follie, has exclusive rights to operate duty-free and other retail stores at airports, ports and border crossings in Greece until 2048. In July, HDFS agreed to acquire British jeweler Links of London for about 60 million euros, in line with its strategy to buy international brands to support growth. (Reuters)

Cyprus’s seafaring past, an ancient idol and mountain sheep will be featured on the island’s euro coins when it joins the eurozone, the central country’s bank said yesterday. A 3,000-year-old stone idol in the shape of a human with outstretched arms will feature on one and two euro coins, while 50-, 20- and 10-cent coins will depict an image of a Greek merchant ship dating from 400 BC, whose wreckage was discovered north of Cyprus in 1967. Smaller denominated coins of 5, 2 and 1 cent will feature the moufflon, Cyprus’s indigenous mountain sheep. The Mediterranean island expects to adopt the euro in January 2008. (Reuters)

Postal Savings Bank (TT) and lottery operator Intralot will be added to the Athens bourse’s FTSE/ASE blue chip stock index, effective as of December 1, the exchange said yesterday. The two companies will replace Hellenic Duty Free and Intracom as part of the exchange’s semi-annual review of the index. (Reuters)

Germany’s biggest power firm, RWE, said it has agreed with Slovenia’s HSE to bid jointly for hydroelectric power projects in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). In a first step, RWE said they had agreed to express interest jointly in the construction and operation of three large hydro-power projects in FYROM. (Reuters)

Titan Cement yesterday denied press reports that it was close to a deal to buy a stake in Cyprus Cement, as reported earlier by Greek media.