Greek capital controls will see big firms grow

LONDON: Restrictions on the movement of money in and out of Greece will leave just two or three dominant businesses in most sectors of the economy as smaller firms shut, a senior figure from one of the country's biggest companies told Reuters on Tuesday.

Capital controls which have been in place since June would help larger firms to consolidate market share, said Kostas Karafotakis, general manager of the Olympia group which owns a range of businesses including major electronics and entertainment retailer Public.

Greece imposed capital controls to prevent a cash run on its banks. There has been a very gradual easing of domestic controls, but the bulk of restrictions remain in force.

Olympia, which has 48 electronics stores under the Public brand in Greece and Cyprus, said limits were hurting smaller businesses but larger players could get cash from elsewhere.

"I can have from my banks in London, or Brussels or Germany everything I want. So is it possible to have the same competition with the one guy in the corner who would like to import their goods? It's not possible."

Olympia itself operates through various companies in Greece, Cyprus, central and eastern Europe including Poland and Scandinavia.

"The strong hands will consolidate the whole market in every place in Greece, (leaving) just the biggest players. Two or three for each sector," he said.

Karafotakis said the firm, which also owns a stake via fund Tollerton in Poland's third-biggest mobile phone operator P4, was still on the lookout for investment opportunities.

Last week, the firm failed in its bid for control of Bulgaria's leading telecoms company Vivacom. Karafotakis said that he was not prepared to offer above a certain undisclosed amount to beat victor Bulgarian businessman Spas Roussev.

However he hinted that Olympia could yet return if the deal ultimately fell through.

"You have to pass through certain bureaucratic approvals... If they (do) not pass, okay I'm here in order to buy with the same amount that I gave, not even one lev more than that." ($1 = 0.9402 euros)