Nassos Ktoridis

Profile

Mr Ktoridis is experienced in financial and business management, with a successful track record in achieving high levels of performance and growth through strategic investments. His active business interests and areas of expertise include the banking and financial sector, advanced information technology and power generation. He is well known and widely respected in the business and economic community in Greece, Cyprus and many other countries, as the result of his successful business activities and extensive official business meetings at the highest level. These have included participation in discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and formal dealings with European Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers. He is the founder and Chairman of Quantum Corporation. Since 2001 he has also been the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Greece - Cyprus, in which he plays a leading and active development role.
 

Education

Mr Ktoridis was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1968. After graduating from the Archbishop Makarios III Lyceum in 1986 and carrying out his military service, he studied Business Administration with specialization in Management at the American College in Athens, until 1990. He successfully completed his studies in a high level program of leadership at the Harvard University in 2007.
 

Career History

In 1994 he founded and became the major shareholder of all the companies in the Group of Quantum Corporation. Quantum has since grown to become a highly successful strategic investor in sectors with strong potential for growth and high returns on investment. Under his leadership, Quantum has achieved steady expansion through astute investments and strategic alliances in power generation and distribution, oil refining, sustainable energy and land management. Quantum also manages a leading and rapidly advancing high technology company, 20% of which is owned by a Greek public company quoted on the Athens Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of 8 billion euros.

Quantum is making an active contribution to responsible and particularly to sustainable energy generation through its strategic stake in five power stations in South Eastern Europe, two of which are thermoelectric and three hydroelectric of a total installed capacity of 1422 MW. Comparatively, combined output at these modern and efficient plants has exceeded by 30% the respective output of the Electricity Authority Cyprus (EAC) and is growing at over 4% per year.

Mr. Ktoridis’ active participation in the construction of co-operative national strategies in S.E. Europe as well as in other countries includes extensive official contacts with Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers of Europe and other countries.

In 1999, part of the Quantum group became publicly listed on the Stock Exchange, and was one of the original companies with admission to the prestigious Index FTSE/CSE 20 of the Financial Times before returning to fully private ownership in 2005.

Mr Ktoridis is the founder and President of the Board of Directors of Euroinvestment a.d., which incorporated the Euroinvestment Fund in 2002 and has since managed it with great success. With a particular focus on investments in newly-privatized state-owned companies, the fund has primarily invested in electricity generation as well as telecommunications, aluminium production and oil refineries. The Euroinvestment Fund was listed on the stock exchange in 2003.

The fund has developed and gained the trust of 14,500 European shareholders, including major institutional investors, banks and other financial institutions, who collectively hold over 60% of the total share capital. Out of thirteen similar investment funds which have participated in the privatization process of state owned companies, the Euroinvestment Fund has achieved the second highest value on investor capital. The Fund achieved an impressive total yield of 127.5% against average investment funds indicator yield of 26.6%.

In 2000, Mr Ktoridis initiated and personally led negotiations to create a new bank in Cyprus with Professor Johannis Stournaras, Chairman and CEO of the Commercial Bank of Greece, and former president of the Financial Committee for the entry of Greece into the Eurozone. The successful conclusion of these negotiations culminated in a signed agreement in October 2000, when the Commercial Bank of Greece - Cyprus Ltd was created and formed as a new legal entity.

Since 2001, the bank has successfully grown and increased its value, with a focus on retail banking activity. Mr Ktoridis has an executive role in the operations of the bank, and has participated in several key committees. These include the evaluation of a new multi-million euro IT system which was successfully implemented in 2004, and current involvement in a new audit committee for financial internal controls. In August 2001 Mr. Ktoridis was appointed Executive Vice Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Greece-Cyprus Ltd, until 2007 at which date he retired having sold the Group’s stake to Credit d’ Agricole. Quantum Group was the bigger shareholder second only to the Commercial Bank of Greece.

Key career dates

1994 Founded Quantum Corporation group

1999 Part of Quantum Corporation listed on Cyprus Stock Exchange with admission to the prestigious Index FTSE/CSE 20.

2000 Led the negotiations and secured agreement for the formation of the Commercial Bank of Greece - Cyprus

2000 Became Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica for economic matters

2000 and 2001 Participated in a series of high level meetings (including the former Secretary General of the United Nations) at the World Economic Forum in Davos as the personal guest of Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada

2001-2007 Appointed Executive Vice Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Greece - Cyprus

2002/3 Euroinvestment Fund founded and listed on the stock exchange

2004 Quantum subsidiary has been awarded the Cyprus Export Merit for Services for the year 2004 -conferred on the Company by the President of the Republic of Cyprus H.E. Mr Tassos Papadopoulos at a special ceremony in December 2005

2005 Honoured and presented by the Prime Minister of Dominica, His Excellency Roosevelt Skerrit, with the “Dominica Medal of Merit” and diplomatic passport at a special ceremony also attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, in recognition of his goodwill services and charitable activity to the people of Dominica.

2006 At a special ceremony at the Presidential Palace, donated to the President of the Republic of Cyprus H.E. Mr Tassos Papadopoullos a unique original handwritten letter written in 1956 by the novelist and French philosopher Albert Camus, pleading for the life of the Cypriot hero Michalakis Karaolis. This important historical document in the fight for independence of Cyprus is now exhibited in the EOKA museum.

2007 During a special ceremony he was merited by the Minister of Education & Culture of the Republic of Cyprus

2008 Founded the charitable Cultural Institution “Athanasios Ktoridis”.

2009 In April 2009 Quantum signed an agreement of strategic significance in the field of energy with the Greek Public Power Company and the Bank of Cyprus part of which concerns the construction and management of two hydroelectric plants of a total capacity 165 MW in S.E. Europe. The Agreement was signed by Quantum’s Executive Chairman Mr. A. Ktoridis, the Chairman and General Manager of the Greek Public Power Company Mr. Panayiotis Athanasopoulos and Mr. Andreas Eliades, the Executive Chairman of the Bank of Cyprus.

2009 In December 2009,the President of the Republic of Cyprus H.E. Mr. Demetris Christofias, ratified his appointment as Honorary Consul of the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Republic of Cyprus.

2010 In October 2010, “Athanasios Ktoridis Foundation” organized with successful the 1st Quantum Nicosia Marathon - www.nicosiamarathon.com.

2011 In April 2011, completed the Boston Marathon in honour, 65 years later, of the Cypriot marathon runner, Stylianos (Stelios) Kyriakides, who brought distinction to Greece by finishing first in 1946. In the second kilometre of the route, Mr. Ktorides laid an olive wreath from Cyprus at the statue of Stelios Kyriakides..

In June 2011, four international personalities: the President of the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Mr. Milorad Dodic, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, H.E. Mr. Roosvelt Skerit, the former President of the Republic of Cyprus, H.E.. Mr. Clerides, and His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Hieronymos II, sent a written proposal to the United Nations encouraging them to use the good offices of Mr. Nasos Ktorides..

In September 2011, with the Rector of the University of Cyprus, Professor Constantinos Christofides, he signed a cooperation agreement between the University of Cyprus and the Athanasios Ktorides Foundation. The agreement provides for the provision of scholarships under the name "The Athanasios Ktorides Foundation Scholarship" for PhD students of the University of Cyprus whom research focuses on solar energy..

In November 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the company PPC Quantum Energy, whose strategic shareholders include the Public Power Corporation SA, Quantum Energy and Bank of Cyprus. The Chairman and CEO of the Public Power Corporation, Dr Arthouros Zervos, was appointed Vice-Chairman of the company. The first project of PPC Quantum Energy will be four hydroelectric stations in the Republic of Serbia with installed capacity of 238 MW..

In December 2011, signed with the Rector of the University of Cyprus Professor Constantinos Christofides Cooperation Agreement, which provides for the creation of the largest solar park in Cyprus with installed capacity 10 MW. The construction cost will amount to 14 million and has undertaken entirely by the Foundation Athanasios Ktorides. The Park will be dedicated to the memory of the 13 heroes in Mari.

In January 2012 announced the EuroAsia Interconnector project that will link with underwater electric cable across 540 nautical miles countries of Israel, Cyprus and Greece with total capacity of 2.000 MW a connection with the Pan-European electricity grid. The full funding of the project is assumed by the PPC - Quantum Energy and will be about € 1.5 billion. The project is amortized over 1500 days from the day of operation of the revenue while the lifetime is expected to reach
€ 17.5 billion.

In February 2012, UNICEF declared Cypriot Mr Nasos Ktorides as Goodwill Ambassador. He is the first Cypriot to benefit from this momentous recognition. It should be noted that, with Antonis Samarakis and Eleni Glykatzi-Arveler, the first Cypriot UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador completes the trio of personalities of wider Hellenism who have enjoyed such recognition to date.