In Brief
Gov’t drops CSFB as Olympic Airways’ sale adviser Transport Minister Christos Verelis told a parliamentary committee yesterday that the government had dropped Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) as adviser in the privatization of Olympic Airways. «Our relationship with the adviser has ended. Greek banks will take over,» Verelis said. Earlier this week, Verelis admitted the ailing carrier needed an urgent injection of private funds to survive beyond the summer, despite having scaled back flights and stabilized its finances after a failed attempt earlier this year to find a qualified buyer. «The fees sought by CSFB for continuing the cooperation were not to the government’s advantage,» Verelis said afterward. Interested in duty-free? The Agricultural Bank yesterday invited expressions of interest for a stake of between 40 to 60 percent in subsidiary Hellenic Duty Free Shops (HDF), as the state-run bank restructures to focus on core business. The bank has a 60-percent stake in HDF, which won a 50-year license from the Greek State in 1998. It reported sales of 168 million euros in 2001, an 18.3-percent increase year-on-year, and pretax profit of 29.66 million euros, down 4.3 percent year-on-year. It has a permanent workforce of 455 and seasonal staff numbering 293.The first stage of the tender process ends with expressions of non-binding interest on May 13. (Reuters) e-commerce Greek firms are among the lowest users of e-commerce in their transactions, according to a study by Eurostat: Only 3 percent of Italian and 6 percent of Greek, Spanish and Portuguese do so. China-Greece tourism The visit to Athens by Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, scheduled for May 16 and 17, will signal the commencement of official talks to boost tourism cooperation in view of a strong interest among Chinese to visit Greece, a Development Ministry statement said. Garganas dismissed reports of the banking sector’s heavy exposure to non-performing loans.
