The Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece - Judicial investigators will make a full probe of alleged improprieties by Greece's main telecommunications firm to secure a deal for a mobile telephone license in Bulgaria, the government said Tuesday.

Government spokesman Christos Protopappas would not comment directly on the allegations, but said the judiciary "will carry out its duties" in the investigation.

A Greek prosecutor launched a preliminary inquiry Monday following a report in the Athens daily Kathimerini that the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, or OTE, made a secret arrangement with Telecom Italia Mobile to win the Bulgarian license in late 2000.

OTE denied the allegations in an announcement issued late Monday. There was no immediate reaction from Telecom Italia Mobile.

"The management of the organization reiterates that OTE won the mobile license in Bulgaria under absolute transparency and with absolute legality and never drafted, nor had reason to draft, secret agreements," OTE said.
According to the Kathimerini report, OTE allegedly paid Telecom Italia Mobile 3.5 billion drachmas (10.2 million euros) to get the Italian company to drop out of the bidding for the Bulgarian deal.

Kathimerini printed a copy of a fax which it said OTE had sent to Telecom Italia Mobile inviting the company to invoice OTE for up to 2 billion drachmas (5.8 million euros) for various services.

OTE said the document related to separate issues between OTE and Telecom Italia Mobile which preceded the Bulgarian auction. OTE said international auditors found no questionable payments from OTE to Telecom Italia Mobile between Jan. 1, 2000 and Jan. 31, 2002.

OTE, a former state monopoly, is now 59 percent held by shareholders. OTE shares were down more than 3 percent on the Athens Stock Exchange.

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