Ziraat Says Greek Complaints Block Bank Purchase, Hurriyet Says

Bloomberg
April 4, 2011

TC Ziraat Bankasi AS, Turkey’s biggest state-run bank, complained about objections in the Greek parliament to its expansion, saying plans to buy a Greek bank were on hold, Hurriyet reported.

Questions were being raised in the legislature in Athens almost every day about Ziraat’s operations, including accusations that it’s using cheap loans to take over Greek land and commandeer its sugar industry, chief executive Can Akin Caglar said, according to the newspaper.

National Bank of Greece SA encountered no such problems when purchasing Turkey’s Finansbank AS five years ago, Caglar said.

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