In response to an article published in a weekly newspaper dated 20-21 May 2006, which referred to "illegal activities of ROKAS" with respect to an investment in a Wind Farm located at Skorponeria, we would like to point out the following, without prejudice to our legal rights:
1. Our Company has not engaged in any illegal activity whatsoever; on the contrary, it has taken all the necessary steps to protect the environment and has obtained all permits required by all the competent authorities.
2. The site where the Wind Farm is being installed is outside any residential areas or any approved or proposed urban development plan, and there are no agricultural establishments, poultry farms or industrial plants whatsoever approved for the said site. The site where the Wind Farm is being installed was never a forest, but is a semi-rocky, uncultivated land where only bushes and dry-leaved shrubs grow.
3. Indeed, an Appeal for the Cancellation of the installation and production licenses has been filed with the Council of State, on the grounds of alleged environmental damage. It is worth pointing out, however, that the parties "interested" in the protection of the environment are, based on their own statement, real estate developers, i.e. technical and construction companies, which have been turning parts of the site where our investment is located into building plots and then erecting buildings for resale. The companies in question have demanded that the restrictions imposed on thousands of acres of forested areas are lifted for development purposes; namely they wish to have the said forested areas turned into building plots and erect buildings, whereas our Company engages in the generation of renewable energy without wasting any type of conventional energy, causing any pollution, or producing any waste, while also ensuring foreign exchange benefits for our country. In view of the above, it is easy to discern the motive behind such actions taken by parties interested in turning the area into building plots, which undoubtedly will have no effect whatsoever on any court of law.