“We drafted our budget and our business plan for 2009 at the end of this summer, when the signs of economic turmoil were already visible. We have taken into consideration all the indicators and prepared a cautious, realistic budget. We are neither extremely optimistic nor pessimistic regarding 2009,” said Theocharopoulos.

The operator registered earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) worth €5 million in the second quarter of 2008. Operational losses in the first six months amounted to €2.7 million, down 85.5 percent.

The company plans to focus on modernizing its retail network. “We will start a project which involves the improvement of our network in terms of sales and services. We will also expand the network in 2009, but not excessively,” added Cosmote’s CEO.