By G. Hatzilidis
Northern Greece cigarette manufacturer SEKAP has won a first legal battle to keep the company afloat as it awaits a first instance court verdict on its motion to quash a massive 45-million-euro fine imposed for tobacco products smuggling.
A local court in the northeastern city of Komotini last week issued an injunction against the execution of the fine, pending a final court decision on the case.
The fine dates from when SEKAP was still owed and managed as an Agriculture Bank-controlled cooperative in 2009, before being purchased by Greek-Russian businessman Ivan Savvides. The latter’s fortune in Russia and in the wake of the Soviet Union’s breakup was in cigarette manufacturing and sales.
Agriculture Bank was subsequently sold off as a state-run, and debt-laden, credit institution in Greece during the economic crisis.
The injunction by the Komotini court is based on a presumption that imposition and collection of the specific fine would lead to SEKAP’s immediate closure.
