Businessman tells court leftist gov’t was behind TV license bid

In testimony before a court probing a competition for TV licenses carried out by the previous leftist government, the businessman Christos Kalogritsas has revealed that his participation in the competition had been at the behest of the administration at the time, specifically by then digital policy minister Nikos Pappas.

According to sources, Kalogritsas admitted that he had not had the funds to bid for one of the four TV licenses and that the leftist government had been aware of this. Indeed, he reportedly told the court that his bank accounts had been frozen at the time.

He claimed to have explained this to Pappas who, he alleged, answered: “We don’t need money from you. We can get it. We just want your name.”

The 25 million euros for the competition was subsequently provided, of which 3 million euros was submitted as a guarantee.

Kalogritsas allegedly concluded his deposition claiming that he was “carrying out orders of the then government.”