ATHENS, Jan 20: Kidnappers released Greek shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos on Tuesday for a record ransom which reports said could be as high as 100 million euros ($130 million).

The 74-year-old founder of Greece’s largest ferry company Attica, one of the country’s richest men, express his relief and delight to be back with his family after an eight-day kidnap ordeal.

“I’m very happy to be home, as you can understand. As you can see I am well... though a little dazed still. I think they took very good care of me,” said the elderly businessman, who is thought to be in poor health.

Panagopoulos did not mention and was not asked about the ransom, which was paid by his family and reported to be anything from 30 to 100 million euros.

A police source said only that the sum was the largest ever known to have been paid in a Greek kidnapping case.

Panagopoulos was spotted at around 1:30am local time (2330 GMT) by a police car on routine patrol near the Aspropyrgos industrial zone, west of the capital.

The first thing he did was to ask for a mobile phone so he could contact his family, police said.

Panagopoulos had been taking drugs, including insulin, for serious ailments that have not been disclosed.

He told reporters that the kidnappers had not been aware of his medical condition in advance had been sure to provide him with the correct medication.

Quizzed by a throng of reporters, Panagopoulos declined to give any other details on his captivity, saying only that his kidnappers had been ‘proper and polite’.

State television NET reported that one of the kidnappers had said,“Thanks very much, you’re free to go grandpappy”, before releasing him.

The tycoon told police he was held in a room with no furniture other than a television and was monitored by four men who always wore hoods in his presence, according to the NET report.

Police hope a suspect shipment of medication, traced to a pharmacy in the region of Viotia, around 100 kilometres north of Athens, may help them unravel the case.

That is not far from where the ransom was left by Panagopoulos’ wife Katerina on Monday.

Police said they suspect the kidnappers’ hideout is in the countryside east of Athens.

Panagopoulos was kidnapped on Jan 12 by three gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs who used a van to block his car as he left his home. His chauffeur was later found handcuffed to a tree outside the capital.

Negotiations for Panagopoulos’ release dragged on for a week, with the kidnappers demanding a ransom in used 20 and 50-euro banknotes.

Over the weekend Katerina Panagopoulos made a dramatic plea to the kidnappers on several different television stations, even offering to take her husband’s place.

Panagopoulos is described by his peers as a shipping visionary. His career has included founding Royal Cruise Line in 1971, which went on to dominate the domestic cruise ship industry, before he founded Attica in the 1990s.—AFP