Marcas Extends Membership in Norway and Greece

Marcas announced that IUM AS of Grimstad, Norway and Eletson Corporation of Piraeus, Greece, will join Marcas as of January 1 bringing the total of committed vessels up to 400 vessels on some of the larger contracts, with total Marcas aggregated purchasing expected to exceed $100 million in 2003. The participation of IUM and Eletson, who will start by utilizing selected procurement contracts, marks the first step for Marcas in the Norwegian and Greek markets respectively. “While growing the membership is key for Marcas, this growth must be achieved by adding further quality, credit-worthy and forward looking companies to our current base of members,” commented Arvid.G.Bergvall, CEO of Marcas. “Both IUM and Eletson reflect these qualities in their respective markets. We very much look forward to working with them by bringing them into the association,” he said. ‘Marcas offered us attractive prices whilst allowing us to keep control of the entire purchasing process, something that is an integral part of our corporate culture,” said Jan Nilsen, Vice President, from IUM AS “Maintaining close relationships with our suppliers is key to our company’s strategy. The ability to benefit from better prices, whilst being able to maintain those close relationships was an important factor in our decision to join Marcas,” said Gregory B. Hadjieleftheriadis, Eletson Corporation President & CEO.

“We are confident that Marcas will continue to build critical mass in 2003. Our strong focus will be to work alongside suppliers and members to extract further efficiencies in order to genuinely offer savings and value on both sides of the table,” said Arvid.G. Bergvall, CEO, Marcas.