Greek-Russian business tycoon Ivan Savvidis on Tuesday sparked controversy with an interview appearing in the Greek news website protothema.gr, where among others he compared Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and attacked Greece's main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, saying that he "will never become prime minister".

Greek channel Alpha TV on Thursday filed a suit against Greek-Russian entrepreneur Ivan Savvidis, accusing him of fraud, in connection to a competition for four broadcasting licenses which concluded last Friday, after a long bidding procedure which took place behind closed doors.