Europe’s biggest gaming monopoly OPAP expects its evaluation committee to decide this week on the technical bids submitted by three firms for its IT unit, its chief executive said yesterday. “The evaluation committee has not submitted yet (to OPAP’s board) the report on the bidders’ technical offers,” OPAP’s CEO Vassilis Neiadas told Reuters. “The report might be submitted within this week.” Greek gaming system supplier Intralot and US lottery firms Gtech and Scientific Games are competing in OPAP’s tender for the unit, which comprises a data center and user terminals and servicing. OPAP launched the tender, which is seen as crucial for its future growth, early in 2006 but objections by bidders and the resignation of some members of the committee delayed the process. A Greek newspaper reported on yesterday, citing unverified sources, that OPAP’s committee had disqualified Scientific Games’ technical bid. (Reuters)

BUCHAREST – Romania’s largest oil and gas firm, Petrom, said yesterday it had discovered a gas field near the eastern town of Focsani that could produce 130,000 cubic meters a day. Petrom, majority owned by Austria’s OMV, said it also expected output of some 11 tons of condensate a day. “We intend to start the development of this new field as soon as possible. We think it is possible to start production at end-2007 or the beginning of 2008,” Werner Ladwein, a member of Petrom’s executive board, said in a statement. Petrom reported natural gas output of 5.92 billion cubic meters and produced about 4.78 million tons of crude and gas condensate in 2006. The company said it would continue to search for new gas fields in the area. It plans to invest 100 million euros per year until 2010 in exploration. (Reuters)

Ferry operator Minoan Lines SA has been included in the FTSE/Med 100 index which tracks companies listed on the Athens, Israeli and Cyprus bourses, the stock exchanges said yesterday. Minoan replaces retail group Notos Com Holdings SA, also listed on the Athens bourse. The revamp is part of a half-yearly review and takes effect from June 1. At present 51 companies in the index are drawn from the Athens Exchange, 44 from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and five from the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

Gold jewelry exports from Turkey, one of the world’s top gold exporters, rose by 14 percent to 29.8 tons in the first four months of 2007, exporters’ data showed yesterday. Turkey’s gold jewelry exports stood at 7.6 tons in April, up from 6.5 tons a year earlier. (Reuters)

German wind power company WPD Group will invest 38.2 million euros in a 32.5 megawatt wind farm in northeast Bulgaria, the Bulgarian investment agency said yesterday. The wind park, comprising 13 generators, is expected to produce around 68,800 MWh of electricity a year. It will be located in the village of Odartsi near the town of Dobrich. (Reuters)