ETA listing on course
The file for the listing of state-owned Hellenic Tourism Properties (ETA) on the Athens bourse will be submitted at the end of the month and the public subscription will have been completed by September, the government said yesterday. Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said at a presentation of the company yesterday that ETA, in its new role, will essentially be a holding company with important assets, making a major contribution to public revenues and introducing a new privatization model based on the extensive participation of private capital and management. «Not only are we not abandoning state property but we are giving it new conditions in which to grow,» he said. Development Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos said ETA’s assets were directed at making an important contribution to development and its bourse listing will enable it to participate selectively in large projects and attract investment interest from abroad. The company aspired to become a credible entrepreneurial pole in the tourism industry, he added. He noted that since being set up only two years ago, ETA, which assumed the assets of the Greek National Tourist Organization, has successfully completed a series of small and medium-sized projects and is in the final stage of attracting investors for the Mont Parnes casino and three marinas. The process has also begun for developing assets in Afantou, Rhodes and Anavyssos, Attica, and a conference center at the old Hellenikon airport, where the presentation was held. The government, which will keep a golden share in Bulgartabak, has initially offered a majority stake of up to 80 percent. It did not set a minimum price but had forecast $100 million in minimum revenue from the sale.
