We wish to inform you that on Friday December 7, the Government tabled a law in Parliament, effective as of that date. The law sets conditions and criteria regarding eligibility of parties intending to acquire voting rights exceeding 20% in strategic industries of national importance which were previously State monopolies. OTE belongs to this category.
The law limits maximum voting rights by a single shareholder or groups of shareholders judged to be acting jointly to 20% unless approval is granted by the Interministerial Privatisation Committee. Approval is conditional on the fulfillment of criteria safeguarding public interest, indicatively are mentioned operational expertise, transparency regarding intended strategy, control of ownership of shareholder etc.
The law further stipulates that decisions by companies considered to be of strategic national importance need approval by the Minister of Economy in order to carry out certain actions such as dissolution, merger, change of purpose, major divestments etc.
Τhe law intends to provide an orderly framework for privatization. It will be discussed and voted in Parliament soon and there may be amendments. If passed, which we expect, it will be applicable as of the date it was tabled. We believe that this development does not affect in the least the value of OTE which will depend on the effectiveness of the management in carrying out the business plan, as it has been doing in the past.
About OTE OTE Group is Greece's leading telecommunications organization and one of the pre-eminent players in South-eastern Europe, providing top-quality products and services to its customers. Apart from serving as a full service telecommunications group in the Greek telecoms market, OTE Group has also expanded during the last decade its geographical footprint throughout South East Europe, acquiring stakes in the incumbent telecommunications companies of Romania and Serbia, and establishing mobile operations in Albania, Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Romania. At present, companies in which OTE Group has an equity interest employ over 30,000 people in six countries, and our portfolio of solutions ranges from fixed and mobile telephony to Internet applications, satellite, maritime communications and consultancy services. Listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, the company trades under the ticker HTO as well as on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker OTE. In the U.S., OTE?s American Depository Receipts (ADR?s) represents ? ordinary share. Additional Information is also available on http://www.ote.gr.