Kathimerini ship venture faultless
A prosecutor’s findings into allegations concerning Kathimerini SA’s investment in shipping, which led to the case being dropped, throws light on the effort that was made to defame the company, the chairman of its board, Aristides Alafouzos, and to damage investors’ faith in the company. Prosecutor Athanassios Psarrakis completed his investigation on July 16, 2002. It was published in Kathimerini yesterday. Kathimerini SA owns Kathimerini and is joint owner of Kathimerini English Edition. The probe had followed reports in the newspapers Eleftheros Typos, Eleftheros, Eleftherotypia and To Vima, following a report on the Flash.gr news portal. All of these had claimed that Kathimerini SA’s purchase of ships was irregular. Psarrakis’s investigation, however, showed that the investment had been correct and had benefited the company’s shareholders. «Through this investment, Kathimerini SA was the only one among similar companies – that are listed on the Athens Stock Exchange – which increased profits, in contrast with the others, which showed a significant drop in profits or losses in 2001 in comparison with 2000,» Psarrakis wrote. He found that the investment had been made in full accordance with ASE regulations at all levels. On the subject of inflation, he blames governmental policy for its present state. He says the proposed changes to the taxation system are fragmentary and do not produce any concrete economic outcome. He suggests that an effective investment policy would be to include the private sector in managing co-financed projects.
