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Thursday, 13 September 2018

Ex-Parliament Budget office director warns against overturning measures agreed-to with creditors

The former head of Parliament’s independent Budget Office, Panagiotis Liargovas, on Thursday emphasized that although the third – and hoped-for last – Greek bailout officially concluded last, creditors’ supervision of…

Greek umemployment rate falls to 19% in Q2 2018

The official unemployment rate in Greece continued to ease in 2018, with the latest figures for the second quarter of the year showing it dropping to 19 percent, down from…

11 suitors for EPC portion of IGB connector pipeline project

By K. Deligiannis kdel@naftemporiki.gr Eleven construction or energy-related companies and consortia have expressed an interest in a connector natural gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria (IGB), with a relevant international…

Passenger traffic at Greek airports between Jan-Aug 2018 exceeding 2017’s figures by 9.9%

Passenger traffic at airports around Greece continued to grow in 2018, with the latest figures for the Jan-Aug period showing nearly 45 million people arriving or leaving by airplane. The…

Creditors continue to press for reduction in NPEs, NPLs weighing down Greek banks

By E. Sakellari esak@naftemporiki.gr The Olympus-sized “mountain” of “bad debt” burdening Greek banks’ ledgers dominated talks on Wednesday in Athens between institutional creditors’ top auditors and credit institutions’ representatives, as…

Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Third LNG tank at Revithousa facility ready next month, DES.FA sources

By K. Deligiannis kdel@naftemporiki.gr Construction of a third LNG tank on the islet of Revithousa, just off an industrial district on the mainland west of the port of Piraeus, is…

Juncker again asked about Greek pension cuts; repeats that agreed-to measures must be implemented

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday again dampened the Tsipras government’s hopes of avoiding agreed-to social security spending cuts in 2019, speaking almost simultaneously with reports out of Athens…

Govt source: Athens tables arguments to creditors to avoid new round of social security spending cuts

The Greek government, as expected, on Wednesday broached the issue of suspending a planned reduction in social security spending – set for of Jan. 1, 2019 – in the first…

Public Debt Management Agency: Uniform yield remains stable at 1.09% for 12-month Greek bonds

The Greek state raised 812.5 million euros from an auction of 52-week T-Bills on Wednesday, with total bids reaching 898 million euros, oversubscribing the offer by 1.44 times. The uniform…

Greek tourism sector turnover increases in Q2 2018

Turnover in Greece’s all-important tourism sector – particularly in terms of hospitality and food-and-beverage – continued to increase in the second quarter of 2018, up by 11.5 percent , compared…

Athens court maintains temporary protection against creditors for FF Group

An Athens first instance court on Wednesday accepted a motion by the Folli Follie Group to maintain an injunction that provides the multinational retailer and jewelry accessory maker protection from…

Tsipras quip casts doubt over ongoing tender process to sell-off bankrupt Henry Dunant hospital

A quip by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras over the weekend has reportedly thrown a “monkey wrench” into an ongoing tender process to sell-off the bankrupt Henry Dunant (Errikos Dinan)…

Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Tsipras: Pension cuts unnecessary if fiscal targets being met

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras repeated on Tuesday, this time from Strasbourg, that his poll-trailing government will avoid implementing social security spending cuts on Jan. 1, 2018, as long as…

Mati wildfire death toll reaches 99

The number of victims from a July 23 wilfire that destroyed the Mati settlement in eastern coastal Attica reached 99 on Tuesday, with a badly burned 26-year-old passing away at…

Tsipras’ address at Europarliament followed by acrimonious exchange over nepotism references

Greece’s often venomous political landscape spilled over into a European Union setting on Tuesday during Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ address before a Euro-parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, when the…

Greek PM calls for ‘progressive front’ in next year’s Euro-poll; EPP cadre: Tsipras, his gov’t must avoid populism, radicalism

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday rang “warning bells” against what he called encroaching populism in the European Union, addressing a European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, where the…

Top EBRD official: Significant rise in investments after solution of fYRoM ‘name issue’

A top European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) official was quoted by Reuters this week as saying that investments funneled towards Greece and its neighboring former Yugoslav Republic of…

US envoy Pyatt to “N”: Would-be investors in Greece want to see ‘predictability’

By V. Kostoulas vkost@naftemporiki.gr US ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt, days after attending the inauguration of the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) over the weekend, where the United States is…

Four int’l gaming groups request info on Helleniko license ahead of tender

By L. Kalamara lkal@naftemporiki.gr Four international gaming groups have reportedly expressed an initial interest in vying for a casino license at the Helleniko site, where the biggest real estate development…

Monday, 10 September 2018

US Sec’t of Commerce Ross: Next step for Greece is propel economy into true growth orbit

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who represented Washington over the weekend at the opening of a major trade fair in the northern city of Thessaloniki, said the most important…

Hotel federation president estimates 60K properties in Greece listed on Airbnb-like platforms

More than 60,000 residential properties in Greece are listed on short-term lease platforms, i.e. Airbnb, the president of Greece’s hoteliers’ federation assessed this week. In comments to the state-run news…

Realtors’ association points to signs of recovery in Greek property market

Greece’s recession-battered real estate sector is showing faint signs of recovery, according a nationwide study by an association representing realtors and certified property assessors in the country. The study, presented…

Creditors request lifting of injunction protecting Folli Follie’s assets; stake in mall possibly on selling block

Greece-based Folli Follie’s creditors on Friday requested the removal of an injunction protecting the retailer and jewellery accessory maker’s assets, after reporting overdue loans worth nearly 45 million euros.   …

‘Religious purification’ reportedly cited in case involving vandalism of icons at Athens-area museums

Criminal charges were filed on Monday against two women arrested for at least three instances of vandalism at a same-number of Athens-area museums, in one of the more bizarre cases…

Ministry finally tabled draft bill establishing legal framework for seaplane routes in Greece

By F. Zois fzois@naftemporiki.gr A decades-old initiative to commence regular seaplane routes in Greece, which boasts scores of inhabited islands and number coastal sites without a nearby commercial airport, may…

Regling: Debt relief measures interrupted if Athens retreats on agreed-to reforms

European creditors took less than a day to react to the leftist-rightist coalition government in Athens, following a more-or-less package of future tax breaks and spending measures unveiled by Greek…

Breakdown of Tsipras’ promised measures, costs up until 2022

A package of measures, most bumped into the future and many even after general elections are scheduled in the autumn of 2018, were announced by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras…

Greek army release details of arrest of 2 Turkish servicemen who strayed across border; subsequent return

Greece’s army general staff on Sunday evening provided details over a bizarre incident before 11 a.m. the same day, when two Turkish servicemen were arrested some 150 meters inside Greek…

ND given 10.9 pct point lead over SYRIZA in latest poll

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party is given a 10.9-percentage point lead over ruling SYRIZA in a latest opinion poll, which was commissioned and published by the Sunday weekly “Proto…

Sunday, 09 September 2018

Ministry confirms: 2 armed Turkish servicemen arrested on Greek territory

Two Turkish servicemen were detained in the Peplos site on the frontier with Turkey in the Evros prefecture, Greek authorities announced on Sunday afternoon, confirming initial press reports of an…