In Brief
OPAP approves terms of tender for Stoichima manager The board of gaming group OPAP approved the basic terms of an international tender for a consultant to manage its flagship betting game Stoichima from February 2007, the company said yesterday. The draft tender will open shortly for public consultation, Europe’s biggest betting company by market value said in a statement. Stoichima, which makes up about 40 percent of OPAP’s sales, is now managed by Intralot. Its contract expires in early 2007. OPAP wants a consultant for the in-house risk management of Stoichima in a bid to cut costs. (Reuters) Turkey in no hurry to pay back debt to IMF ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said yesterday Turkey was in a position to pay its International Monetary Fund debts early, but had no plans to do so. He told a news conference no decision had been taken. Brazil announced at the end of last year it was paying off its debt to the lender ahead of schedule. An IMF team is due to visit Turkey next week, for the next review as part of its $10 billion loan agreement. EFG appointment EFG Eurobank, Greece’s third-largest lender by assets, said yesterday Giorgio Pradelli will head its international operations, effective June 1, replacing David Watson. Pradelli, with an MBA from the University of Turin, was deputy finance director for the EFG Group based in London and previously held management posts at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, London and Milan. He will sit on the bank’s executive committee, the bank said. Cyprus inflation Cyprus’s consumer inflation fell to 2.96 percent year-on-year in April from a March reading of 3.23 percent, the republic’s statistics department said yesterday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was running at 102.65 points in April, up 0.83 percent from March. The CPI was up 2.78 percent for the January-April period, the statistics department said. The statistics office reassessed its CPI calculations and started using 2005 as its base year from January. The re-jig expanded the basket of goods and services to almost 700 from a previous list of 525 goods. (Reuters) Mytilineos nets Spider Alternative energy company Spider has accepted an offer by Mytilineos for the latter to acquire 100 percent of its share capital. Based in Ioannina, Spider specializes in development, construction and operation of wind parks and hydroelectric power production units. CySE The Cyprus Stock Exchange and FTSE International have readjusted the FTSE/CySE 20 index to include investment company Pandora and KEO brewery, the exchange said yesterday. The twice-yearly review removes Vision International People Group and biscuits manufacturer Frou Frou. The index tracks 20 companies listed on the Cypriot market. The changes will be effective from June 1. (Reuters) Elevated ambitions Kleemann Hellas, the elevator company, announced it will start operating a subsidiary in Romania this summer in addition to one in Serbia, Kleemann Liftovi. Speaking yesterday at the official opening of the Serbian firm’s installations, company President Nikolaos Koukountzos also said that Kleemann considers its product promotion office in Beijing as a springboard for penetrating the Far East and revealed its intention to also enter the Indian market
