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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-07-14Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Justice minister files official requests for fast-track handling of Siemens kickbacks casesJustice Minister Nikolaos Paraskevopoulos on Thursday filed official requests asking for the fast-track handling of two cases involving alleged Siemens kickbacks, submitting them to Supreme Court Prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou. In both cases, the trials had been indefinitely adjourned for various technical reasons.The minister's requests will be forwarded to the Athens Appeals Prosecutors' office within the day. Paraskevopoulos asked Dimitriou to speed up the processing of the trials under Article 30 of the Criminal Procedure code, which gives calls for the priority handling of trials for cases of an exceptional nature. The Athens Appeals Prosecutors office will contact the foreign ministry translation service to determine how much time is needed to translate the decree in two languages in order to set a new trial date. [02] Greek railways operator TRAINOSE goes to Italy's FerrovieThe Greek rail operator TRAINOSE will be fully acquired by the Italian railway Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane S.p.A for 45 million euros, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) announced on Thursday. Ferrovie's binding offer for a 100 pct stake in TRAINOSE was unsealed on Thursday and the Greek privatisation agency accepted the offer and named Ferrovie the preferred investor, in accordance with the recommendations of advisers on the sale.This included an assessment concerning the validity of the offer, two independent valuations and a positive opinion from a Council of Experts. The tender envelope will now be sent to the Court of Audit for a pre-contractual review and the share purchase agreement will be signed after the court gives its approval. Completion of the transaction is subject to the approvals of the competent authorities. Ferrovie is the third largest railway company in Europe and is expected to transfer knowhow and experience to TRAINOSE. HRADF noted that the conclusion of the tender marks the completion of a process that started three years ago and ensures both TRAINOSE's viability and its further development. It also lays the foundations for successfully closing the dossier on illegal state aid opened by the European Commission with respect to TRAINOSE's 750 million euro debt to the Greek Railways Organsiation (OSE). Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |