Stelios Sklavenitis, one of the owners of Greece’s biggest supermarket chain, died of complications after infected with the flue virus. The businessman was admitted to a private hospital in Athens with acute respiratory distress on Saturday evening. Despite doctors’ efforts, he passed away the ten hours later.
According to a statement issued by the private hospital, Stelios Sklavenitis was diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) linked to infection with influenza virus type B. He was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.
“Despite the pharmaceutical and mechanical support, the patient “developed a syndrome of multi-organ failure and ended up due to intrapulmonary hemorrhage at 7:18 on Sunday morning,” the statement said.
Together with his two sibling, Stelios Sklavenitis managed the big supermarket chain.
The company was founded in 1954 by Ioannis Sklavenitis, Spyros Sklavenitis and Miltiadis Papadopoulos. The first supermarket opened in 1969 in Athens.
Amid the economic crisis, Sklavenitis collaborated with Marinopoulos/Carrefour hypermarkets at the verge of bankruptcy in 2016. Sklavenitis undertook the management, saving thousands of jobs.
