In Brief
PPC awards Metka power plant contract The Public Power Corporation (PPC) awarded Greek construction company Metka a contract to build a power plant after an appeal by a competing bidder was rejected, PPC said yesterday. Metka was named preferred bidder for the contract earlier this year and offered to build a 427-megawatt natural gas-powered plant on the island of Evia for 219 million euros. The project in the town of Aliveri is due to be completed within 27 months, PPC said in a statement. Metka, a subsidiary of Greek metals and engineering group Mytilineos, beat out a rival bid by Damco Energy. Metka has said it planned to use new technology provided by France’s Alstom to build the generator, the largest natural gas-powered plant in Greece in terms of power. (Reuters) Turkey’s foreign visitors rise sharply in June ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 17.1 percent year-on-year in June, official data showed yesterday, pointing to a continued strong performance by the vital tourism sector. The Turkish Statistics Institute said the number of foreign visitors in June had risen to 2.774 million from 2.369 million in the same period a year earlier. In May there was a 19.2 percent annual increase in foreign visitor numbers. The largest number of foreign visitors came from Germany, followed by Russia, Britain, Iran, Bulgaria and the Netherlands. In the first half of the year, the number of foreigners entering Turkey jumped 16.6 percent from a year earlier to 9.184 million. Croatia to buy Finnish APCs Finnish defense firm Patria is set to win a tender for the sale of 126 armored personnel carriers to the Croatian army, media reported yesterday. A Defense Ministry commission is due to propose to the government later this week its choice for the winner of the tender between Patria and Austria’s Steyr. «Finland’s Patria is almost a certain winner of the tender, as their offer is some 60 million euros cheaper than that of Steyr,» Jutarnji List daily said. According to the daily, Patria offered a price of some 150 million euros ($207.3 million), while Steyr’s offer is worth 210 million euros. (Reuters) IKEA in Cyprus Swedish home-furnishing company IKEA will open its first outlet in Cyprus on September 6, Greek franchise owner Fourlis said on Monday. The 20,000-square-meter store is nearing completion on the outskirts of Nicosia. «We aspire to be one of the biggest investors in Cyprus, with an investment of 40 million euros and the employment of between 300 and 350 people,» Chairman Vassilis Fourlis said at a presentation here. (Reuters) Soltech $40.7 mln order GT Solar International Inc said its GT Solar Inc unit received a $40.7 million order from Patras, Greece-based Soltech SA for a turnkey line of equipment capable of making 30 megawatts of solar wafers, cells and modules annually. (Reuters)
