Από το περίφημο δημοσίευμα του ReutersCritics of links between media and business also cite the case of a gold mine project in Halkidiki, northern Greece. The mines were sold by the Greek government in 2003 to a newly-formed Greek mining company. Soon afterwards the construction firm in which the Bobolas family has an interest acquired a stake in it.Local opponents campaigned vigorously against a license for the mining project being granted, claiming it would harm the environment. Tolis Papageorgiou, a leading figure in the protest group Hellenic Mining Watch, alleged that newspapers controlled by the Bobolas family failed to report large demonstrations opposing the mine and vilified an environment minister, Tina Birbili, who blocked a license for it."Just days into her new job in 2009 she became the target of media controlled by Bobolas because she refused to issue a license to the mining company," Papageorgiou alleged.Soon after Birbili's appointment in 2009, newspapers owned by the Bobolas family christened her "Green Tina" and criticized her performance. Reports said she was blocking many kinds of development. The articles did not mention that the newspapers' owners had a family interest in the mine or the construction trade.In his letter to Reuters, Bobolas said that Ethnos strongly supports large-scale projects that create employment and help the country recover from its economic crisis.Birbili, who declined to comment for this article, was sacked in June 2011; a license to operate the mine was subsequently granted. After it was issued, construction firm Ellaktor, according to its annual accounts, booked a profit of 261 million euros from partly selling off and partly revaluing its stake in a Canadian company that had by that time bought 95 percent of the mine.A former aide to the Greek prime minister of the time said Birbili's sacking was not related to the mine. The former environment minister who authorized the license, George Papaconstantinou, said "the decision was made solely on the basis the environmental impact study", which had been positive about the mine.In his letter to Reuters, Bobolas said the only remaining connection his family has with the mine is his son's indirect stake of less than one percent.http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/17/us-greece-media-idUSBRE8BG0CF20121217