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Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Shipowner Marinakis submits highest bid for DOL media group

Greek shipowner Vangelis Marinakis has submitted the highest bid for the troubled Lambrakis Press Organization (DOL), with his offer reaching 23 million euros. Offers were unsealed on Wednesday in Athens…

Privatization fund accepts 600-mln€ offer to extend Athens airport concession by 20 year

Greece’s privatization fund (HRADF) on Wednesday announced that it has accepted an improved offer by the Athens International Airport SA (AIA), the company which manages the airport, to extend the…

Provisional winner in int’l tender for new Irakleio, Crete airport

The Ariadne Airport Group consortium has been declared the provisional winner of an international tender to build a new airport on Crete, and specifically at the Kasteli site. Ariadne is…

Tsakalotos takes debt relief plea to heart of Euro zone

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos again called for clarity in debt relief measures for crisis-bedeviled Greece, taking his message on Wednesday to the heart of the Euro zone, Frankfurt. Speaking…

Schaeuble calls anemic IMF forecasts for long-term Greek economic growth ‘unrealistic’

The “tug-of-war” between the IMF and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble over the gasping Greek bailout program continued on Wednesday, with dpa quoting the powerful German minister as dismissing the…

ECB’s Coeure: No specificity in debt relief measures emerged from May 22 Eurogroup; debt sustainability imperative

European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Benoit Coeure reiterated on Wednesday that the Euro zone’s central bank will make a decision over the Greek debt’s sustainability independently. In echoing…

Crucial contacts continuing to find common ground between Athens, creditors ahead of latest ‘unofficial deadline’ of June 15

The next few days are crucial for achieving an agreement at the June 15 Eurogroup meeting regarding the Greek program, with contacts and deliberations ongoing at the highest political level…

Privatization fund requests better offer for 20-year concession extension for Athens airport

Greece’s privatization fund (HRADF) on Tuesday announced that its board of directors requested an improved offer for a 20-year extension of the concession agreement in place for the Athens International…

Tuesday, 30 May 2017

Tsipras on the phone with Merkel, Macron, Tusk to press for last-minute debt relief

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke by phone with Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and EU Council President Donald Tusk over the last 24 hours to press for a Greek debt…

Energean signs landmark deal to supply Israel’s Dalia with natgas from deposits in Israeli EEZ

Greece-based Energean Oil & Gas on Tuesday signed a landmark deal with Israel’s Dalia energy group to provide the latter with natural gas from the Karish and Tanin deposits, which…

Greek FinMin: Bild distorted statements; no issue of skipping July bailout payment

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Tuesday charged that German daily “Bild” distorted his statements – made a day earlier to reporters – in order to support its claim that…

Govt spokesman dismisses ‘Bild’ report over debt payment

The government spokesman on Tuesday referred to “political expediencies” as behind the same-day “Bild” article, which claimed that Athens is considering – if pressed – to avoid the next bailout…

Bild claim: Athens eyeing prospect of missing July bailout repayment

An eyebrow-raising dispatch by the German mass daily “Bild” on Tuesday claimed the Tsipras government is considering an option to skip a coming bailout payment unless creditors extend debt relief…

Uber eyes Greece: ‘Taxi drivers our partners, not competitors’, company exec maintains

By Vassilis Kostoulas [email protected] High-flying Uber, the app-based international services company that uses private drivers linked by its hand-held technology, has arrived in Greece and wants to expand. Faced with…

Monday, 29 May 2017

Tsakalotos: Looking for good, not perfect solution at coming Eurogroup

The Greek side on Monday appeared to lower its oft-repeated expectations of an agreement with creditors at the coming Eurogroup meeting on June 15, with the relevant finance minister telling…

ND retains comfortable lead over ruling SYRIZA party

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leads ruling SYRIZA by 16 percentage points in the latest opinion poll published on Monday. The poll was presented on the prime-time newscast of…

Pilot of Mirage 2000 that crashed in sea region safely parachutes

The pilot of a Hellenic Air Force Mirage 2000 that went down in a sea region south of the Sporades island chain in the central Aegean on Monday morning parachuted…

US envoy marks passing of Constantine Mitsotakis

US ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt on Monday commented on the death of former Greek prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis, referring to a “great statesman” who improved US-Greek relations. “Another great…

Wife of injured former PM says letter bomb’s explosive material located in CD case

The wife of former Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos, who was injured in a letter bomb attack last Friday, on Monday said the explosive material was located in a CD…

Draghi to MEPs: No QE for Greek bonds until debt relief finalized

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi on Monday told European Parliament deputies that the euro zone’s central bank awaits a comprehensive agreement that will render the Greek debt as…

Ex-PM Papademos to be transferred from precautionary stay in ICU

The hospital where former prime minister Lucas Papademos is being treated after a parcel bomb detonated in the sedan he was riding in last week on Tuesday announced that he…

Marginal improvement in total credit in April, month-on-month

Total credit in crisis-bedevilled Greece only marginally improved in April 2017 over the previous month, but still remaining in “negative territory”, with the figure at -1.6 from -1.7 percent in…

Former Greek PM Constantine Mitsotakis passes away

Former Greek prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis passed away in the early morning hours of Monday. Mitsotakis, the father of current main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, died at the age of…

Sunday, 28 May 2017

Eurobank economic bulletin: Greek GDP rate lags behind EZ average by 2.2% points

The divergence between Greece’s growth rate and that of the Euro zone average by 2.2 percentage points was the highlight of Eurobank’s weekly economic report last week. The specific figure,…

ND continues to field double-digit percent point lead over ruling SYRIZA

The latest opinion poll unveiled over the weekend gives main opposition New Democracy (ND) a 16.6-percentage point leading of ruling SYRIZA. The poll was published in the Sunday weekly “Proto…

Tsipras phones Papademos; condemns terror attack

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke by phone on Sunday afternoon with former premier Lucas Papademos, who remains hospitalized after a parcel bomb exploded in a car he was riding…

Friday, 26 May 2017

Leaked Eurogroup minutes point to stern Schaeuble stance; Greek FinMin’s woried over ‘political crisis’ in Athens

By N. Bellos & G. Kampourakis    The purportedly leaked minutes from Monday’s Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, which failed to generate an agreement between creditors over the Greek bailout, point…

CNBC cites IMF source as saying July repayments ‘ensure’ Greek deal will be reached at June Eurogroup

CNBC reported on Friday that a deal between Greece and its creditors at the upcoming June 15 is almost guaranteed, given that the country must pay back bailout loans in…

First step taken between Panathinaikos, state to exchange current stadium for new venue

The first step, among what are expected to be many more, was taken on Friday towards constructing a new pitch for the Panathinaikos football club, with the amateur Panathinaikos organization…

Reports: Book with explosive material inside parcel caused blast that injured former Greek PM

Press reports on Friday claimed the previous day’s assassination attempt against former Greek prime minister Lukas Papademos employed a gunpowder-laden book within a parcel sent to him. The same reports…