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Tuesday, 05 December 2017

Aeolos Kenteris fast ferry on auction block next month

By L. Karageorgos [email protected] A new auction date for an iconic fast ferry, the “Aeolos Kenteris”, was rescheduled on Monday by a first instance Piraeus court, with Jan. 10, 2018…

Notaries again consider ‘no show’ for property auctions; police ‘spread thin’ on Wed, minister says

Representatives of associations of notaries in the greater Athens area on Tuesday afternoon were debating whether to issue a decision preventing members from attending the next day’s property auctions at…

Commission’s Costello praises, cautions Athens amid ongoing negotiations to conclude third bailout

The term “clean exit” may not be the most appropriate or useful for the period after the ongoing third Greek bailout ends in August 2018, Declan Costello, the European Commission’s…

Forecast for main social security fund’s annual surplus at roughly 600 mln€

By S. Papapetros [email protected] Revenues for Greece’s primary pension fund, EFKA, continued to exceed monthly targets for a tenth straight month in October, according to labor and social insurances figures,…

Major cocaine bust nets 135 kilos

A Serbian national was remanded in custody on Tuesday after a formal appearance before a magistrate on charges of possessing 135 kilos of cocaine. Greek authorities seized the drugs in…

Amendment changing the way strikes are declared withdrawn, govt promises to resubmit revision in next draft law

A closely watched amendment changing the way union members in Greece vote for industrial actions was abruptly withdrawn on Monday evening, with the relevant labor and social insurances ministry promising…

Paul Antoine Briat: Athens a perfect city for YellowKorner

Less than three months after accompanying French President Emmanuel Macron on his official visit to Athens, well-known entrepreneur Paul Antoine Briat returns to the Greek capital to inaugurate his new…

Monday, 04 December 2017

Finance ministry: Tax exemptions on corporate property cost state 3.5 bln€ annually

By G. Palaitsakis [email protected] The Greek state loses roughly 3.5 billion euros in revenue, annually, from exemptions to a special 15-percent tax, dating to 2002, imposed on real estate in…

French FDIs in Greece at 2.1 bln€ in 2016

French direct investments in Greece in 2016 reached 2.1 billion euros, an increase of 9 percent, from the previous year, and ranking further in terms of countries with FDIs, with…

Fraport Greece unveils plans for new Kos airport terminal, major renovations

Fraport Greece continued its “road show” of events to present its renovation and modernization plans for the 14 regional airports around Greece that it manages since last April, with the…

Athens, DG Comp agree over four PPC units that will go on sale block

Negotiations between the Greek side and the EU Commission’s competition watchdog, the DG Comp, to sell-off 40 percent of the state-run utility’s lignite-fired power capacity finally concluded over the past…

Govt sources: Eurogroup OKs staff level agreement between Athens, creditors

A staff level agreement between Greece and its institutional creditors was reportedly given the “green light” on Monday by the Eurozone finance ministers comprising the Eurogroup, with government sources in…

Nine Kurds ordered held on terrorism-linked charges

Nine Turkish nationals, all ethnic Kurds, arrested last week in raids on three central Athens apartments, and charged with various terrorism-related offenses, were ordered held on remand after their statements…

Thousands of Greek tax cases dating to 2010 and earlier now closed due to statute of limitation

By G. Palaitsakis [email protected] Tens of thousands of cases of income tax-related investigations in Greece dating from the 2006-2010 period are now considered as permanently closed due to statutes of…

Q3 2017 Greek GDP growth falls below forecast

GDP growth in still bailout-dependent Greece reached 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2017, compared to the same quarter of 2016, a development which showed a continued recovery, but…

Cosco-managed Piraeus Port Authority eyes goal of top 30 ports in the world

By A. Tsimplakis [email protected] The Cosco-managed port of Piraeus is expected to exceed the four-million teu threshold, in terms of container cargo, at the end of 2017. A Cosco subsidiary…

Bill envisions casino concessions for Crete, Santorini, Mykonos

By L. Kalamara [email protected] The Greek government is eyeing a liberalization of the gaming sector in the country, with the intent of allowing the establishment of casinos in well-known tourism…

Sunday, 03 December 2017

SSM delegation cautions Greek banks to prepare for stricter IFRS 9 accounting standards

By N. Malliara [email protected] Closely watched “stress tests” on Greek banks will be concluded in April 2018 and not May 2018, with the preceding February looming as the most important…

Holocaust monument in central Athens vandalized with graffiti

The latest instance of graffiti-tinged vandalism targeted Athens’ Holocaust monument over the weekend. The outdoor monument is located in the historic Kerameikos district in the center of the Greek capital…

December to determine fate, in large part, of landmark Helleniko privatization

By T. Igoumenidi [email protected] December looms large in deciding the fate of the massive and closely watched Helleniko privatization in the country, as the government must push through several decision…

Mitsotakis says he’ll exclude his relatives from govt if elected PM

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the weekend announced that he’s determined not to include a close relative in any future government he heads up, in case…

Greek FinMin: Staff level agreement with creditors achieved; next step is Eurogroup

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Saturday evening announced that a staff level agreement had been achieved with creditors’ representatives in Athens, a development that is expected to lead to…

Friday, 01 December 2017

Erdogan in Greece this month

Turkey President Tayyip Recep Erdogan will visit Greece on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8, following an invitation by his Greek counterpart, the first such visit by a standing Turkish head…

FSI to present upgrade of ‘Olympic Trail’ line connecting cruise ship harbor with ancient Olympia

Italy’s FSI, which assumed the management of Greek rail operator Trainose this year, is ready to present an upgraded route connecting the Ionian Sea harbor of Katakolo with the ancient…

IOBE: Economic climate in Greece mostly unchanged in Nov. 2017

The economic climate in Greece remained mostly unchanged in November 2017, according to a study released on Friday by the Athens-based Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE), with a…

Govt source: Creditors Ok with boost in welfare benefits for households in 2018

By S. Papapetros A source with the Greek labor and social insurances ministry on Friday said creditors have agreed with a proposal by the Tsipras government to increase welfare benefits…

Opposition: Documents submitted by DM over Saudi munitions deal don’t appear legitimate

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party kept up the pressure on the leftist-rightist coalition government this week over a controversial – and ultimatedly foiled – attempt to sell surplus munitions…

Greek govt leans towards considering as ‘working class’ primary residence any property valued at under 300K €

The again timely question of what the current leftist-rightist coalition government in Greece considers as a “working class” primary residence received at least two answers this week, one by the…

Athens confident it will conclude third review of current bailout program in time

Official Athens appeared confident this week that negotiations for the third review of the ongoing bailout program will be concluded without a glitch, a far cry from the months of…

Thursday, 30 November 2017

Low-cost Volotea announces plan to link Athens with up to 30 European destinations by 2022

Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea this week announced a plan to use the Athens International Airport as a regional hub, beginning in the spring of 2018. The development would mark the…