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Sunday, 13 Αυγούστου 2017

Urgent probe ordered in wake of repeated wildfires on Zakynthos

Authorities have ordered an urgent investigation into a recent spate of wildfires on the Ionian holiday island of Zakynthos, as no less than 11 blazes have erupted over the recent…

Friday, 11 Αυγούστου 2017

Attica Group announces deal for 50.3% share of Hellenic Seaways

Attica Group on Friday afternoon announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with Greek lender Piraeus bank and minority shareholders for the purchase of 50.3 percent of Hellenic Seaways.…

Four bids for fourth metro line in greater Athens area

Four consortia have submitted bids in an international tender to construct a fourth metro line in the greater Athens area, following the passing of Thursday’s deadline. The new underground line…

Refundable fee on retailers’ plastic bags as of Jan. 1, 2018

The Greek government this week announced that a small contributory fee will be slapped on plastic bags used in the country as of Jan. 1, 2018, a measure aimed at…

VAT discount for 32 Greek isles to be finallly abolished as of Jan. 1, 2018

By G. Palaitsakis [email protected] Increased VAT rates that were imposed in most of Greece last year – on the back of a tax “tsunami” to meet memorandum-mandated fiscal targets –…

VAT discount for 32 Greek isles to be finallly abolished as of Jan. 1, 2018

By G. Palaitsakis [email protected] Increased VAT rates that were imposed in most of Greece last year – on the back of a tax “tsunami” to meet memorandum-mandated fiscal targets –…

Thursday, 10 Αυγούστου 2017

BoG: ELA funding towards Greek banks down by 3.3 bln€ in July 2017

The Bank of Greece on Thursday announced that emergency central bank funding to Greece’s systemic lenders was decreased by 3.3 billion euros (8.7 percent) in July 2017, compared to the…

Energean Oil & Gas reports another natgas contract for Israeli market

Energean Oil & Gas this week announced a new agreement to sell natural gas to companies in the group controlled by Israeli tycoon Idan Ofer, an initiative that follows the…

Volunteers to offer information, assitance to tourists in central Athens

The municipality of Athens this week inaugurated a program whereby more than 100 volunteers will be stationed in various central points in the Greek capital to answer inquiries by tourists,…

Mytilineos reports H1 2017 profits of 80.7 mln€

The Mytilineos metals group on Wednesday issued first half 2017 results in the wake of what it called the successful completion of its corporate restructuring, with the highlight being net…

Sharp reaction to appointment of top minister’s father as president of recently nationalized bus company

The surprise appointment of a top minister’s retired father as the head of the recently nationalized Thessaloniki area’s urban bus company stirred more summertime opprobrium on the part of the…

Figures show tourism-related spending by Greeks in the country shrunk by two-thirds between 2008-2015

Domestic tourism spending in Greece has shrunk by two-thirds during the ongoing eight-year economic crisis, reaching its lowest point in 2015 – the recession’s annus horribilis – according to figures…

More delays, bureaucratic obstacles bedevil gold mining concession in northern Greece

By L. Kalamara [email protected] Yet another legal clash is apparently looming between the leftist Greek government and mining multinational El Dorado Gold’s subsidiary in Greece, Hellas Gold, over the latter’s…

Wednesday, 09 Αυγούστου 2017

Greek shipping interests invest nearly 3 bln€ in vessels over Jan-Jul 2017 period

By L. Karageorgos [email protected] The second hand market for ocean-going vessels recorded a turnover of 12.5 billion US dollars over the first seven months of 2017, with Greek shipping interests…

FT article over Greek FM’s defamation suit generates sharp reaction; opposition criticises Kotzias

Financial Times’ latest Greece-themed article, entitled “Minister’s court win intensifies fears for rule of law in Greece,” which points to allegations of judicial interference and “thin-skinned” leftist ministers, generated a…

Greek inflation rate steady at 0.9% in July 2017; CPI at 1% yoy

Greece’s annual EU-harmonized inflation rate was steady in July 2017, according to figures announced by the national statistical authority (EL.STAT) on Wednesday.   The figure for July 2017 was 0.9…

Suspended surplus value tax on real estate transactions set for re-imposition next year

A suspended surplus value tax on property transactions is scheduled to resume as of Jan. 1, 2018, a negative development for Greece’s still depressed real estate market. The re-imposition of…

Tuesday, 08 Αυγούστου 2017

FAZ: 11K asylum seekers left Greece in first half of 2017; Athens promises to take back ‘small number’ of migrants from Germany

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) on Tuesday reported that roughly 11,000 asylum seekers have abandoned Greece in the first half of 2017 for their home countries, with the German mass daily…

Stepped up inspections of daycruisers, foreign-registered yachts conducting excursions

The coast guard in Greece, in cooperation with the newly established independent authority for public revenues, has reportedly stepped up checks of yachts and tourist vessels this summer in an…

August full moon over Greece on Monday evening coincides with partial lunar eclipse

August’s full moon over Greece – billed as the largest and most luminous of the calendar year – on Monday marked a rare coincidence, as a partial lunar eclipse also…

Greek exports up in H1 2017

By J. Kanoupakis [email protected] Greek exports posted a positive first-half in 2017, with figures supplied by the national statistical agency showing total exports – including fuel products – up by…

Attica Bank sells NPL porfolio to overseas investment fund

Non-systemic Greek lender Attica Bank on Monday announced the sale of a non-performing loan (NPL) portfolio, a development that was approved by the Bank of Greece (BoG), its regulatory overseer.…

Moderate quake shakes Kos again on Tues. morning

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale was recorded off the eastern Aegean island of  Kos on Tuesday morning, with an epicenter 38 kilometers northeast of the holiday island. The…

Monday, 07 Αυγούστου 2017

Privatization fund: Six expressions of interest submitted for Greece’s natgas system operator (DES.FA)

Greece’s privatization fund on Monday announced that six different investment schemes have expressed an interest to acquire a 66-percent stake in the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator’s (DESFA’s) share capital.…

Major Chinese presence at next month’s Thessaloniki int’l fair

By V. Vegiri [email protected] China is expected to have a significant presence at the upcoming 82nd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) next month in the northern Greece metropolis of Thessaloniki. The…

FT on Georgiou case: ‘A legal farce calls Greek reform into question’

FT this week again visited the unending legal woes of Greece’s former statistician, a week after he was slapped with a suspended two-year sentence for failing to convene a board…

Statistical service: Greece’s GDP shrunk by 26% since 2010

By G. Palaitsakis [email protected]   Greece’s GDP shrunk by 61.6 billion euros (26 percent) since 2010, the time span when three bailout memorandums with institutional creditors were signed and implemented,…

Kythira wildfire abating after weekend of major damages

A three-front wildfire on the southwestern Aegean island of Kythira was finally abating on Monday morning after an entire weekend of efforts by firefighters and local residents to extinguish the…

Friday, 04 Αυγούστου 2017

Leftist govt tables draft amendment to exempt Mt. Athos monasteries from property taxes

The government on Friday tabled a draft amendment in Parliament that exempts Orthodox monasteries on the all-male monastic community of Mount Athos from paying property taxes. The amendment, in fact,…

Govt cites approval of tourism-related investment worth 408 mln€ in eastern Crete

A relevant inter-ministerial committee tasked with overseeing “strategic projects” on Friday approved a foreign direct investment worth 408 million euros for the Aghios Nikolaos district of eastern Crete, following a…