LUXEMBOURG: Spain on Friday threatened to block the latest bailout disbursement to Greece, angry that Athens has failed to drop a legal case against European experts who had worked on the Greek privatization program.
“The payment of the latest tranche will be blocked (without a solution),” said Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos on the sidelines of EU finance minister talks in Luxembourg.
De Guindos told reporters that Spain and Italy had won the support of euro zone partners at marathon talks on Thursday when a €8.5 billion ($9.5 billion) payout to Greece was agreed in principle.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, the euro zone’s most dominant figure, backed De Guindos.
“Immunity was promised beforehand and such commitments should be fulfilled,” Schaeuble told reporters.
Another top euro zone official said the allegations were “unfair” and that ministers believed the case was politically motivated. The legal case concerns three advisers from Spain, Italy and Slovakia to the Greek privatization agency, created at the insistence of Germany in the wake of the debt crisis in 2011.
Many details of the accusations are unknown, but a Greek legal source said the experts were accused of “disloyalty to the public,” a crime that carries a 20-year jail sentence.
The Greek courts initiated proceedings against the experts in 2014 after alleged irregularities in the sale of 28 real estate properties owned by the Greek state.
Since 2016, a Greek law hands immunity to foreign experts assisting Greece in its bailout program but has no retroactive effect.
“We will find a solution in time,” a Greek government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“We are not going to go broke over this case,” the source added.
Payment of the latest tranche of Greece’s €86 billion ($97 billion) bailout still requires the official approval of national parliaments and a final sign off by euro zone ministers, giving Spain a de facto veto for moving forward.
Euro zone ministers struck a long-delayed bailout deal with Greece on Thursday to unlock badly needed rescue cash but warned Athens would have to wait for debt relief.
Spain threatens to block Greece bailout payment
Spain threatens to block Greece bailout payment
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,228
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, lost 23.17 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 11,228.64.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.99 billion ($797 million), as 170 of the stocks advanced and 82 retreated.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 449.38 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 24,093.12. This comes as 43 of the stocks advanced while 27 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 1,511.36.
The best-performing stock of the day was Obeikan Glass Co., whose share price surged 7.54 percent to SR27.66.
Other top performers included Alamar Foods Co., whose share price rose 6.80 percent to SR47.10, as well as Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price climbed 6.79 percent to SR5.66.
Saudi Investment Bank recorded the steepest drop, falling 3.21 percent to SR13.56.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology also saw its share price fall 3.15 percent to SR13.55.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. declined 2.78 percent to SR7.34.
On the announcements front, Tanmiah Food Co. reported its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the company recorded a net loss of SR18.8 million, compared with a net profit of SR95.8 million a year earlier.
The net loss was mainly due to ongoing market challenges that resulted in continued pricing pressures in fresh poultry, inflationary cost pressures, higher financing expenses, and depreciation and ramp-up costs from new facilities, partially offset by increased production volumes and cost-optimization initiatives.
Tanmiah Food Co. ended the session at SR58.20, up 3.72 percent.
United International Holding Co., also known as Tas’heel, announced its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. A bourse filing showed the company recorded a net profit of SR273.64 million in 2025, up 23.05 percent from 2024, primarily driven by a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. The revenue growth helped lift gross profit by 23.7 percent.
Tas’heel ended the session at SR146.80, down 0.28 percent.
