Greek bottler Coca-Cola HBC (CCHBC) said yesterday it will seek shareholder approval for a share issue, capitalizing on share premium reserves. «The board of directors has proposed the issuance of one bonus share for every two shares outstanding, which will bring the company's total shares outstanding to 363 million,» CCHBC said in a statement. CCHBC will seek approval for the issue at an extraordinary shareholders meeting on October 15. The issue is subject to regulatory approvals. «The proposed transaction is expected to make the stock accessible to a broader range of investors and improve the liquidity of the shares,» CCHBC said. (Reuters)

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's trade deficit widened in January to July to 1.65 billion Cyprus pounds (2.84 billion euros) from 1.48 billion Cyprus pounds in the same 2006 period, the statistics department said in preliminary figures published yesterday. In January to July, total exports decreased to 385 million Cyprus pounds from 396 million Cyprus pounds in the same 2006 period, while imports increased to 2.03 billion Cyprus pounds from 1.88 billion in the same period a year ago period.

Turkey's state grain board TMO will seek government authorization to import 800,000 tons of wheat due to the country's worst drought in decades, an Agriculture Ministry official told Reuters yesterday. He said Turkey planned to import 200,000 tons of the total by the end of September and the rest as needed up until the 2008 harvest. The official, who declined to be named, said TMO also expected to seek approval for the import of 300,000 tons of barley and 300,000 tons of corn. Turkey has been suffering one of its driest summers on record and central Turkey, the breadbasket of the country, has been particularly hard hit. (Reuters)

Piraeus Bank announced the completion of the acquisition of 99.6 percent of the share capital of the Ukrainian bank International Commerce Bank, following the approval of the supervisory authorities in Greece and Ukraine, finalizing the agreement signed on May 18. The acquisition price amounted to $75.3 million (54.2 million euros).

Turkish construction-to-energy firm Enka Insaat said yesterday it had mandated Societe Generale to sell the retail business of Russia-based Ramenka. Ramenka had been run jointly by Enka and Turkish retailer Migros until an agreement this week whereby Enka bought out its partner for $542.5 million. Meanwhile, Migros is being put up for sale by its owner Koc Holding. As at the end of 2006, Ramenka ran 55 stores under the Ramstore name and 10 malls in Russia, according to the company website. (Reuters)