LAOS leader will not step down

Since yesterday the name of Karatzaferis has been at the center of attention, as he is involved in a probe connected to the acquisition of four Super Puma helicopters by the Greek army.

In an announcement he had stated that he will “facilitate the party, by making his personal decisions known”. Today he clarified that this phrase did not mean that will resign from the party's leading position, as media have been reporting.

A five and a half million euro payment is allegedly linked to the Super Puma sale by individual companies to the Greek state.

The former New Democracy MP, who participated in a coalition government in 2011-12, did not deny a link to the offshore firms, currently investigated.

From the investigation so far, regarding the acquisition of four Super Puma helicopters by Eurocopter company, worth 64 million euros, the company belonging to Karatzaferis received a “bonus” of 1.6 million euros. A probe is expected to focus on Karatzaferis’s source of wealth (“pothen esches”) forms.