Greece: Controversial broadcaster quits licence process
September 26, 2016
By Chris Forrester
Yiannis Kalogritsas, who last week was awarded a licence to operate one of 4 new TV networks in Greece, has withdrawn from the process.
He says that critics of the licence award had accused him of everything “except the murder of [President JF] Kennedy”.
A statement from Kalogritsas, released September 26th and shortly after the Media Ministry rejected his request for a 48-hour extension for submitting the initial down-payment of the license fee, Kalogritsas said he and his family have been relentlessly attacked by the media since entering the competition, accused of tax evasion and debts to the state.
Now the Ministry will award the licence to Ivan Savvidis, a Greek-Russian businessman who was the next in line as far as the auction process was concerned.