The government will retain management control of the country’s two biggest ports, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, although certain sections and services will be conceded to foreign operators, Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis told a parliamentary committee yesterday. He said the concessions will be effected on the basis of bilateral state agreements and private/public partnerships. “Contacts with shipping giants from China, Korea, Qatar, Denmark, Sweden and Israel are continuing and we are looking forward to positive results,” he said. Priority will be given to upgrading the container terminals in the two ports.

Lottery systems supplier Intralot has denied a newspaper report that its major shareholder was in talks to sell his 23 percent stake. Financial daily Imerisia, citing unnamed sources, said businessman and major shareholder Socrates Kokkalis was in exploratory talks to sell to a major player in the world lottery market. “Intralot dismisses the report as untrue,” the firm said in stock filing yesterday. The newspaper cited Italy’s Lottomatica, the world’s largest lottery operator, as a possible buyer. In August, Lottomatica completed the purchase of US peer GTech in a $4.7 billion deal to create the world’s biggest lottery operator. (Reuters)

Turkey’s competition board approved again yesterday the privatization of steel producer Erdemir in a bid to override a court ruling to suspend the sale. Turkey’s top administrative court suspended the sale to army pension fund Oyak Group, ruling that the competition board’s approval was invalid as it was made by eight people rather than the required seven, prompting the watchdog to reconvene. Markets have been resilient to the long legal battle over the $3 billion privatization and, as Oyak has taken over the firm, investors see little chance of a reversal. (Reuters)

Greek shipping line Danaos Corp on Tuesday filed to raise as much as $259.3 million in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The company plans to sell 10.25 million shares for $20 to $22 per share. (Reuters)

Refiner Hellenic Petroleum will shut down its 67,000-barrels-per-day Thessaloniki refinery for two or three weeks’ maintenance in November, trade sources said yesterday. (Reuters)

Belgian semiconductor maker Melexis has opened a new plant in Bulgaria, expanding its capacity in an investment expected to be worth around 30 million euros ($38.03 million), the company said yesterday. (Reuters)