OPAP

Greece’s privatization fund has decided to relaunch a tender for a 20-year mutual horsebetting license after failing to accept an improved bid from gaming systems firm Intralot.

Greece’s OPAP, one of Europe’s biggest betting firms, said on Monday that its second-quarter results would be hurt by a 21.6-million-euro ($28.5 million) retroactive tax.

OPAP said in a bourse filing that the tax, which dates back to 2010, may be reduced as it has already appealed to the Finance Ministry in Athens.

A ring of violent robbers believed to be behind 12 armed raids on OPAP betting shops, cell phone retailers and courier firms across Attica has been broken, police sources said on Monday, noting that five suspected members have been arrested.

A rebound in bank shares failed to avert a further slide for the Athens stock market’s general index on Thursday in a session described as an exciting slogging match between buyers and sellers.

The banks index gained 4.17 percent to 144 points, led by Piraeus (7.94 percent) and buttressed by National Bank (3.14 percent), Eurobank (3.62 percent) and Alpha (2.09 percent).

Investor anxiety regarding the outlook for Greek banks combined with heightened insecurity on foreign markets on Wednesday to drive Greek stocks sharply lower for an eighth straight session. This was in tandem with bourses abroad, hit by speculation about a further deterioration in trade relations with Russia and news that Italy is back in recession.

Greece’s betting monopoly OPAP has begun a voluntary redundancy scheme for about three-quarters of its staff to cut costs, one of its biggest unions said on Thursday.

OPAP, one of Europe’s largest betting companies, declined to say whether it was offering the scheme, which will mainly affect its retail network supporting services.

A Thessaloniki court on Wednesday handed an 18-year prison sentence to Eleftherios Valavanis, a former mayor of the municipality of Apostolos Pavlos in Imathia, northern Greece, for embezzling 1.3 million euros in municipal funds.

A former town hall cashier received 10 years behind bars and was released pending appeal.

A third day of losses for most stocks on the Greek bourse has taken the benchmark index to its lowest point of the last 17 sessions, with banks again leading the way for sellers.

The Greek bourse’s benchmark index began the week with a slight drop, mostly on the back of Monday’s closing auctions, with traders being particularly reserved.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,262.31 points declining 0.66 percent from Friday’s 1,270.69 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 25 fell 0.56 percent to close at 408.43 points.

Rising stocks outnumbered those heading south on the local bourse on Thursday while the benchmark ended up virtually unchanged as early losses were offset by gains, mostly secured by outperforming mid-caps, as well as the OPAP gaming company, which is expected to profit on the World Cup that just started in Brazil.