In a simple statement in the newspaper “Kathimerini”, the family of Bambi Vovos announced on Sunday (21.7.2024) the death of the once powerful manufacturer at the age of 91.
Bampi Vovos, who was born in 1933 in Filiatra and managed to make his own history in construction, died, it was announced, last Saturday (13.7.2024)
After a huge career, Babis Vovos, who saw his name dominate many glass buildings on Leophorou Kifissia, in recent years and having entered the tenth decade of his career, had retired. He did not go to the office except rarely and spent much of it with his wife Mary. In previous years he had been in trouble with the justice system, and in 2020 he was arrested after two convictions for tax evasion. He was taken to Korydallos Prison Hospital because of his age, and a day later he bought out his sentence and was released.
The starting point from Filiatra
Born into a family of eight children in the difficult conditions of the inter-war period, what distinguished him from his childhood was his hard work and determination to succeed. Knowing well that “you make your way by moving forward”, he managed to get into the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Polytechnic University.
Even before his graduation, he got a job as a civil engineering cadet in the office of “Nikolaidis & Kalfopoulos”. At the age of 24, in 1957, he establishes his first company together with the Mykonian contractors Yannis Zouganelis and Panagiotis Famelis, the company Famelis-Zouganelis-Vovos O.E., taking over the scientific part, with the preparation of studies etc. The company was mainly engaged in the purchase and construction of houses in Mykonos and it was the company that opened the way for him.
Thus, when the country was just before the “dawn” of the post-independence era, he also took the next big step by founding Babis Vovos International Technical. Business was going well and with the financial comfort he gained he was not carried away by the “Sirens” of luxury holidays, a word unknown to him anyway. But he did make several educational trips. When he went to the United States he was so impressed by the skyscrapers that it was as if he had met his destiny.
Returning to Greece, he charted a new course with the aim of bringing his own “skyscrapers” to the domestic reality. And to a large extent he succeeded. In the very first steps of his new company, in 1975, he participated in the renovation of the Presidential Palace, but he wanted to “establish” his name with something special. Almost simultaneously, taking advantage of the transfer of the building factor, he put forth an ambitious plan for the Atrina Center, which he named after the initials of his children’s names, Aris, Triad and Natalia. The property was based on designs by the great Ioannis Vikelas, but Vovos enlisted American and Italian architects, and was completed in 1978. It consists of two buildings, one with a façade on Kifissia Avenue and the second (tower) is 80 meters high and includes 18 floors.
It is considered the first high aesthetic standard glazed complex, which gave the glass-tinted image of a “skyscraper” outside the historic center. The “Atrina Center” also rose to prominence on television, as it “impersonated” Yago Dragon’s famous “Giant” in the thousands of episodes of the popular television series “The Shining.”
After the first “skyscraper” of the northern suburbs and with the country having turned a new page in 1981, Vovos, with “weapons” the now passed by the Parliament law on the transfer of the building factor and the tool of the counter-rent, changed… track. He began to sweep every free plot of land in Kifissia, setting up the next commercial complexes of “Agora” in 1987, “Polis” in 1995, “Monumental Plaza” in 1999. Thus transforming the road axis into the capital’s most commercial street with its own indelible stamp. Later it was extended to the south, with the old Elfinko building on Syngrou Avenue, which also became…glass, hosting for a time the headquarters of the New Democracy.
Along with the commercial properties, it expanded its horizons to residential and hotel complexes. The change in the law on the transfer of the building rate in 1992 may have threatened his dominance, but it did not break him, as he was one of the first to “discover” the sale & lease back model. And since he could no longer lift behemoths, he exploited the existing ones as a manager. Somehow money flowed in abundance, allowing two of his children, Aris and Ada, to live as “crowned”, playing a leading role in the social life of Athens. In contrast, their father and his wife Mary did not even give their… even in the lap of his glory to make such comments.
In 1999, the company’s profits exceeded 6.5 billion drachmas and MBDT’s listing on the stock exchange followed, with the “party” lasting for almost a decade.
The first heavy clouds came in 2009 along with the financial crisis, the flattening of the real estate sector, and the exorbitant borrowing of 120 million euros. It was the fateful project that became the “Titanic” for Bambi Vovos. The legal entanglements, the inability to find investors and a series of other problems turned his vision of building the new Panathinaikos stadium and the large shopping center in the underdeveloped area of Athens into an irresistible weight that dragged everything down.
In 2011, the group’s short-term debt obligations amounted to 223 million euros and total liabilities to an astronomical 873.73 million euros. In 2012 the company filed for bankruptcy, and shortly afterwards he was temporarily arrested for debts to the state as well.
Deposition
The great “decapitalization” had begun, with the “silver” going into the hands of the banks in the name of a “consolidation plan”. This included the unfinished luxury residential complex in Nea Erythraia, at Mortero, which it tried unsuccessfully to rescue, as well as other assets. The central element of the plan was of course the Votanikos property, which was transferred to a new company in exchange for a total value of €120 million, to repay Alpha Bank, as well as part of a debt from a syndicated loan agreement. At the time, the acquisition of Babis Vovos’ properties was on the table, between the creditor banks and large funds such as KKR, as part of a restructuring of the company’s debts, totaling 272.2 million euros.
But the restructuring agreement, which was upheld by the court in May 2015, was only partially implemented, with most of the properties ending up under the hammer. However, on 7 June 2013, the Athens Court of First Instance revoked a previous decision declaring “Bambis Vovos International Technical” in bankruptcy, considering that “the bankruptcy of the above company was never declared”. That is why to this day the company remains active, with its headquarters in the office on the 4th floor of the “Atrina Center”.
In fact, a few days ago, on February 26, 2024, the General Meeting of Shareholders decided to amend Article 3 of the Articles of Association, setting the duration of the company at 100 years, from the original 50 years that had already expired…
Typical of the magnitude of the collapse is that in 2006 the value of MBDT’s portfolio amounted to €1.2 billion. In 2015 it had fallen to €201.1 million, in 2016 to €44.1 million and more recently, based on the latest financial statements for 2021, it had fallen to €17.52 million, with accumulated losses reaching €234.4 million and total liabilities €177.5 million.
But even after its slippery fall, Vovos continued to struggle with what was left in its hands. One of his key cards was a 62.2-acre plot of land in Sounion (Puntazeza), where he envisioned building a 12,000-square-meter hotel complex with an expected completion initially in… 2009.
However, the financial statements for 2016 stated thatas there was no development regarding the construction of hotel units, but also no agreement with interested tenants or buyer-investors, the company proceeded to sell the land to Piraeus Bank on 25/5/2016 for €10 million, with which debts to the state and social security funds were satisfied. Its second strong card was the hotel complex in Galata.
In the financial statements of the same year it was stressed that ‘the completion of the hotel complex in Galata is in its final stage. The company is considering the possibility of converting this unit into a medical resort”. It was a project that would also put him in the tourist real estate business. Thus, he struggled to save it, with Aris Vovos anxiously looking for a potential investor. The unfinished “Stella Maris” complex sits on the site formerly called Katara and now Drepani, in Galata Trizinia, and is being developed on a 65-acre seaside site, consisting of 17 independent buildings and 23,905 sq.m.
The gamble was of course extremely difficult, given that the property was burdened with mortgages and liens in favor of banks and others, totaling 47 million euros, as well as three foreclosures. Thus,on 19 May 2021 it was put up for auction with a first bid price of €7.35 million, but it ended up being unsuccessful due to a lack of bidders.
The replay has been set for March 9, 2022, this time with a starting price of €5.48 million, but there was a major twist as Cypriot company Ferena Holdings Ltd turned up, bidding €6 million. Prior to the auction, an appeal was made by MBDT to the Piraeus Court of First Instance, requesting that its application be granted, in which it set out the history of the expression of interest on the part of the Cypriot company. The request was granted and the second hammer was suspended.
But the same was not the case with the other corporate and family assets, which were either sold to meet liabilities or were put up for auction. Such as the famous yacht “Maria Pia” owned by Aris Vovos, which in 2010 was sold to Andreas Steggos, son of the builder Konstantinos Steggos, for 11 million euros. The impressive yacht of 42 meters renamed “My Toy” has five suite cabins, five bathrooms, seven crew cabins and can accommodate up to 12 people. In fact, in recent years it has also hosted American actress Demi Moore. Reportedly, the Steggos family was also looking to sell it, and the boat is currently leased for 99,000 euros a week. At the same time, under a hammering all the time are the assets of MBDT, some of which are going away and others are left unclaimed.
Auctions
The unfinished homes in New Eritrea began to go up for auction in May 2021, with most to be auctioned off gradually by September 2022. On 22 December 2021, an unbuilt plot of land on Kifissia Avenue in Neo Psychiko, with a first bid price of 1.26 million euros, which after successive “hits” was sold at 2.38 million euros, was auctioned off. Since April 2021, another plot of 8.2 acres, in Maroussi, near the “Ring”, on Kifissias 109, which hosts an unfinished property, was put under the hammer. It originally came out with a price of 4.63 million euros, with no result.
Recently, on February 14, an auction was held for a corner plot of 318.25 sq.m. on Theotokopoulou and Aigialiaia streets in Maroussi, where the summer cinema “Agora Hellas” used to operate. It came out with a starting price of 280,000 euros and was awarded at 370,000 euros. From December 2022, horizontal properties (offices, shops, warehouses and more than 450 parking spaces) in the “Atrina Center” and the second complex on 60 Kifissias Street started to go under the hammer. By last Friday, 22 March, the auction for the 75 remaining parking spaces was held. And there is more to come…
The plot in Filiatra
On November 8, 2023, a plot of land in his hometown of Filiatra, Messinia, went under the hammer and changed hands. It is a field of 4 acres, bare, unbuilt, flat and fenced, in the location Merolithi, of the estate Region of Filiatra, which came out with a first bid price of 29,500 euros and was sold with 10 euros more at 29,510 euros. Artion Travel and Tourism from Trikala was the responsible party and the amount of the debt was 40,000 euros. The auction was directed against Bampi Vovos himself as the debtor, while even this land was loaded with a mortgage in favor of Alpha Bank for 200,000 euros from 2017 and with two forced seizures by the foreclosing…
In recent years
Since 2012, the family members of Bambi Vovos have experienced a different reality. They sacrificed not only their homes, but also other assets in order to repay debts and obligations after they had mortgaged them.
By March 2024, Bambi Vovos’s residence, which had ceased to belong to him, had passed into other hands. This prime property, on 25 March Square and Diamond Avenue at number 1, was identified with him and his family. So much so that, although he has reportedly left it by residing elsewhere for at least a year, it was still listed as his address until late 2023.
The plot, acquired by Bambi Vovos in 1969, on Leophorou Diamantidou is enclosed by a stone paddock with a railing, while the frontage to 25 March Square has a concrete wall. The mortgage-laden villa was to be auctioned for the first time on 13 December 2017 at the Halandri Magistrate’s Court, with Alpha Bank as the auctioneer and a starting price of €2.56 million. However, the day before, the notary association decided to abstain and so the auction did not take place. But neither did the next ones seem to have willing investors to “hit it”, despite the “fillet” at a bargain price.
Although the property subsequently passed into the ownership of Alpha Bank, no eviction proceedings were initiated following, as it was called at the time, an informal order from the late Yannis Kostopoulos, founder of Alpha Bank, who did not want his old friend to lose his house, in addition to everything else. So Babis Vovos continued to live there, paying the bank a monthly rent. Finally, in March, the property was acquired by the well-known real estate entrepreneur Yannis Papalekas.
