OTE chief denies resignation
Telecom company OTE denied last night that Chairman and Managing Director Nikos Manassis had resigned ahead of today’s extraordinary general meeting, which is to elect a new board. OTE spokeswoman Deppie Tzimea quoted Manassis as saying, «I have not resigned and will be at the general assembly tomorrow.» Earlier, Flash radio had reported that Manassis had submitted his resignation to Transport and Communications Minister Christos Verelis. Rumors that the Greek State, OTE’s largest shareholder, would not support Manassis for the post of chairman had caused OTE’s stock to fall 2.82 percent, to 17.24 euros and the composite index to drop 2.02 percent. In New York trade, OTE’s ADRs were off 3.1 percent, at $7.50, at 3.00 p.m. local time. According to the rumors, Manassis would keep the managing director’s post but would be replaced as chairman by Lefteris Antonakopoulos, currently president of the Federation of Greek Industries (SEV) and a former head of the Greek operations of oil company Shell. «If you’re asking me about (today’s) EGM (extraordinary general meeting), I have nothing to say,» Manassis told Reuters when asked about the rumors. OTE officials confirmed Manassis met with Verelis yesterday but would not go into details. Verelis could not be reached for comment. Today’s EGM will be the first time shareholders elect the 15 board members in the company’s 53-year history, rather than having 12 of the 15 appointed by the government. Last year, the government brought its holding below 50 percent. After failing to attract any interest from European telecoms operators for 20 percent of OTE, partly due to concerns about management control, the State instead sold an exchangeable bond to reduce its stake to 41.75 percent. (Combined reports)
