Russian businessman Ivan Savvidis on Friday was declared the winning bidder for one of four national broadcast television licenses auctioned off by the government late last month.
Savvidis emerged as the runner up bidder after another company, one controlled by the son of a local construction owner, Christos Kalogritsas, failed to deposit a first installment of a winning bid by a specific deadline last week.
Following an audit of Savvidis’ statement of means and assets, the company he controls, and which placed the bid in the electronic auction, must now deposit a first installment of 20.5 million euros.
Savvidis, a Russian citizen and an ethnic Greek, is mostly active in northern Greece, and among others, is the owner of the PAOK Thessaloniki professional football team.
