By George Hatzidakis
ATHENS (Reuters) - Kidnappers freed Greek shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos on Tuesday after his family paid a ransom of around 30 million euros (27.7 million pound), a week after he was seized at gunpoint in a plush coastal suburb of Athens.
Police discovered the 74-year-old, who founded Greek ferry operator Superfast Ferries, in the early hours in the town of Aspropyrgos some 20 km (13 miles) west of Athens after the kidnappers called his wife to reveal his location.
Panagopoulos, one of Greece's richest men, was snatched in broad daylight by three men wielding assault rifles as he was being driven to work in the coastal suburb of Kavouri on Jan 12. It was Greece's third high-profile abduction since June.
"I'm very happy to be back home," Panagopoulos, dressed in a suit, told reporters after a medical check up. "I would like to thank everyone who contributed to making this episode as brief as possible."
A police source said the ransom, delivered late on Monday, was around 30 million euros: the largest ever known to have been paid in a Greek kidnapping.
Fears had grown for the magnate's health after his wife, Katerina Panagopoulos, said he required daily medication. She offered in a televised plea on Saturday to swap places with him.
Looking thin but composed, the tycoon said he had a supply of medicine on him when he was abducted. He said his captors had behaved respectfully and had even returned the handgun they had taken from his driver during the kidnap.
Panagopoulos was being driven from his sea-side villa to his office when a van and car blocked his route and kidnappers snatched him from his car. His driver was left tied to a tree but managed to free himself and inform police.
"I feel well after undergoing an ordeal I don't wish anyone to go through," he said. "I feared for my life."
Panagopoulos is credited with modernising Greece's ferry sector. He sold his stake in Attica Holdings, the company which controls Superfast Ferries, to Marfin Investment Group in 2007 for more than 250 million euros.
Police said the kidnapping, which came after the re-emergence of a left-wing guerrilla group during riots last month, was believed to be the work of a criminal gang. They are investigating links to two recent abductions.
In June, George Milonas, chief executive of aluminium company Alumil and chairman of the Federation of Industries in the northern city of Thessaloniki, was kidnapped. He was released two weeks later after a ransom was paid.
A well-known Athens doctor was kidnapped last month but has yet to be found. Police arrested Greece's most wanted fugitive Vassilis Palaiokostas in August for Milonas's kidnapping.
(Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Alison Williams)