Page 19 - TURKRptJun22

bne June 2022 Companies & Markets I 19
diversification of supply to the energy market of Greece and the surrounding region”.
In 2011, Copelouzos met with Gazprom executive Alexey Miller to discuss prospects for the Greek gas market.
The following year Gazprom submitted an unsuccessful preliminary bid to purchase Greece’s state-owned gas company Public Gas Corporation (DEPA).
If the Copelouzos Group’s bid for the port were successful, it would add to its already large portfolio of infrastructure investments. The group is the only private shareholder of Athens International Airport and manages 14 regional Greek airports as well as some real estate assets.
Representatives for the Copelouzos Group did not respond to a request for comment.
More Russian Connections
Dimitris Copelouzos is not the only Russian-linked businessman that is seeking to acquire the port. Ivan Savvidis, a Russian-Greek billionaire and former member of the Russian parliament, holds a controlling stake in one of the other
bne:Tech
‘Market disruptor’ TBC UZ makes digital bank inroads in Uzbekistan
Muzaffar Ismailov in Tashkent
Top Georgian bank TBC took the digital route into Uzbekistan and – according to a strategic report from LSE-listed TBC Bank Group – its app-based subsidiary in the Central Asian country can now proudly dub itself
a "market disruptor”.
Launched in October 2020 as a digital bank, TBC UZ, operating through the group’s fintech platform Space, has started to record eye-catching market growth figures.
“2021 marked a new chapter in TBC’s history as we successfully expanded our banking operations in Uzbekistan and took firm steps towards establishing ourselves as a digital innovator in the region. We believe our position as the leading bank in Georgia, coupled with our Uzbek business, will enable continued strong growth, while our digital business model will drive robust profitability going forward,” chairman of the board of directors of TBC, Arne Bergren, said in a statement.
interested parties, the Thessaloniki Port Authority. Savvidis acquired a 67-percent stake in the Thessaloniki port last year.
In 2018, Savvidis was claimed to be funding politicians in Macedonia who opposed the country’s name change, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Last month, The Federal National and Cultural Autonomy of Greeks of Russia, an organisation headed by Savvidis, sent vehicles and generators to the sanctioned Donetsk separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Savvidis did not respond to a request for comment.
The port’s privatization coincides with the construction of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Alexandroupolis, which will help Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia diversify from Russian gas. This will be the second LNG terminal in Greece and could make the nation a major gas supplier for the Balkans region. The LNG has been declared a project of special interest for natural gas by the European Union.
Bids for the Port of Alexandroupolis stake must be submitted by Q2 of this year, although the exact date is unknown, according to Roi Haikou, corporate communications manager for the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund.
TBC was awarded an Uzbekistan banking licence in early 2020. / TBC.
TBC Bank's top manager, economist Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, highlighted the growth of TBC UZ, the investors in which include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). By the end of 2021, it had 35 locations, along with 10 showrooms, with a total coverage of 97% of the population.
“Currently, we are only presented with the mobile banking app in Uzbekistan and we are planning to keep penetrating new markets with our technology only. International users are able to use the mobile banking app to save a deposit and receive loans and this is the model which we will continue to push,” Butskhrikidze lately told the Financial Times, noting that the technology “enables the bank to expand”.
The bank has added a number of services that are new to Uzbeks such as consumer loans without collateral, payment of bills and P2P transfers. Global Economics recently awarded TBC UZ the title of “Best Digital Bank of Uzbekistan in 2021".
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