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Tuesday, 04 July 2017

Greek shipowners reject Schaeuble criticism of tax regime; cut-throat competition the threat to European shipping

By L. Karageorgos   [email protected] Powerful German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble again raised eyebrows in official Athens over the weekend with a very high-profile interview given to an Athens daily,…

Monday, 03 July 2017

Warning shot fired over Turkish freighter that skirted inspection; Ankara reaction

Ankara on Monday sharply condemned an incident earlier in the day when a Greek coast guard patrol boat fired a warning shot over a Turkish-flagged freighter off the Dodecanese island…

High court quashes acquittal of fugitive self-described multi-billionaire on charge of spreading false news

A plenary session of Greece’s supreme court on Monday quashed a notorious lower first instance court decision acquitted a Greek man, now a fugitive, who claimed to control or manage…

Sharp exchanges in Parliament over ‘drug ship’ probe. charges and counter-charges

Another off-the-agenda Parliament debate in Athens on Monday at the political party leaders’ level, ostensibly on the course of the Greek economy, quickly degenerated into a “free-for-all” of charges, counter-charges…

Greece’s welfare, social benefits framework next up for reform, rationalization

By S. Papapetros [email protected] Greece’s relevant labor and social insurances ministry will begin the task of revamping and rationalizing the entire welfare benefits and bonuses framework in the coming period,…

Tax collection ‘marathon’ begins in July for bailout-dependent Greek treasury

By G. Kouros [email protected] A tax revenue “marathon” commenced this month in Greece to collect 11 billion euros of the budgeted annual goal of 27.3 billion euros by the end…

Sunday, 02 July 2017

Shipping, media magnate Kyriakou, 75, passes away

Greek shipping tycoon and media owner Minoas Kyriakou died on Sunday at the age of 75. A heart attack was cited as the cause of death. He served as president…

EU Commission’s Costetllo: Primary budget surplus goals for Greece after 2022 ‘realistic’

The European Commission’s mission chief to Greece, Declan Costello, expressed a view that primary budget surplus goals set for Greece after 2022 are “realistic”. In comments made to Greece’s state…

Friday, 30 June 2017

Mnuchin: Not sure whether Greece will even use IMF contribution

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday more-or-less praised the IMF’s handling of the Greek program, when fielding a question regarding the Trump administration’s involvement in Euro zone financial relief.…

Much-hyped promise of proceeds from audits of Greek taxpayers with overseas deposits fizzles; meager results reported

By G. Palaitsakis [email protected] The Greek state’s “take” from two eponymous lists of Greek citizens with deposits abroad – along with probes of cash transfers to overseas accounts since 2010…

BoG revises Greek GDP forecast to 1.6% in 2017, down from previous 2.5% figure

The Bank of Greece (BoG) on Friday revised its figure for Greek economic growth in 2017, now predicting a 1.6 percent GDP increase. The forecast was including in the BoG’s…

Metka announces participation in winning tender for new power plant in Ghana

Athens-based Metka S.A. on Friday announced the signing of a new EPC contract with Early Power Ltd., a consortium that consists of Endeavor Energy, Sage and GE, for the construction…

Regling, Tsakalotos eye market return for Athens; ESM chief: Greece incurred 100 bln€ in damages from 2015 negotiations

The medium-term goal of Greece’s return to the markets for its financing needs – rather than continued reliance on institutional creditors and partners – was a highlight of a joint…

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Eighteen utilities, enterprises to be shifted to new ‘supra’ privatization fund

A list of state-owned utilities and enterprises that will be transferred to a new “supra privatization fund”, called the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP), was announced by its…

Tsipras: No return to markets just for a publicity stunt

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras clarified on Thursday evening that any foray into the markets by still bailout-dependent Greece won’t be attempted as a mere publicity stunt. “Greece won’t turn…

Deadline for tax returns in Greece extended until July 17

A deadline for the submission of tax returns by individual taxpayers and legal entities (businesses, enterprises etc.) was extended until July 17, 2017, Greece’s finance ministry announced on Thursday. The…

Report: Garbage strike ends in Greece

A union representing sanitation workers across Greece has reportedly called off a garbage strike that entered into an eleventh day on Thursday. The decision, which was taken by a majority…

Indictment quashed hours after Dombrovskis warning that loan tranche may be blocked if legal entanglement not ended

By N. Bellos [email protected]   The EU Commission wants the immediate termination of judicial action against three former experts assigned to Greece’s privatization fund (HRADF), who were dispatched to the…

Landmark high court ruling mandates 5-year statute of limitation for most tax cases; govt angered

By G. Palaitsakis [email protected] Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council on State (CoS), issued a landmark decision on Wednesday essentially mandating a five-year statute of limitation on audits, probes and…

ESM’s Regling also cites prospect of Greece returning to markets in 2018

European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Managing Director Klaus Regling held talks with Greek leadership in Athens on Wednesday, before merely confirming that a recently approved next bailout loan tranche for Greece…

Wednesday, 28 June 2017

OECD: Implementation of reforms in Greece necessary, not a mere legislation of measures

By Vassilis Kostoulas [email protected] The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) now see “good progress” in getting reforms passed as legislation in Greece, although tangible improvements for the Greek economy…

IMF’s Velculescu: Greek debt still unsustainable even with absolute fulfilment of program; Costello: Greece back to point it was in 2014

The head of the IMF mission chief in Greece, Delia Velculescu, echoed the Fund’s standing position of a need for a full implementation of reforms by the Greek side, including…

Thessaloniki to use private contractor to collect garbage as sanitation workers’ union continues strike

A private contractor’s trucks are expected to roll through the streets of Thessaloniki on Wednesday in order to start removing rubbish from the northern city’s streets, as a nearly two-week-long…

Handelsblatt: Bundestag to OK latest Greek loan tranche on Wed.

A relevant Bundestag committee is expected to ratify the latest 8.5-billion-euro loan tranche extended to Greece by European creditors, the biggest of which is Germany, as far as member-states are…

Greek Alt. FinMin: We didn’t expect debt relief measures at this phase

Alternate Finance Minister Giorgos Chouliarakis was revealing on Wednesday in referring to the Greek government’s expectations over possible measures that creditors were willing to extend to bailout-dependent Greece over its…

PM, shipowners’ union president sign one-year extension of voluntary tax contribution by the latter

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday received the board of the Greek Union of Shipowners at his Maximos Mansion office, where he and the president of the association, Theodore…

Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Dominant Greek power utility (PPC) reports lower Q1 2017 turnover

State-run Public Power Corporation (PPC), the dominant electricity supplier in Greece, on Tuesday announced lower turnover over Q1 2017, down by 3.1 percent from the corresponding quarter of 2016. The…

Garbage strike continues despite PM’s mediation; gov’t opposes private sector involvment

A more than week-long garbage strike will apparently continue in Greece, as even a meeting chaired by the country’s prime minister on Tuesday failed to break a deadlock in talks…

Greek treasury exceeds revenue target for Jan-May, must collect another 32.488 bln€ by end of year

By T. Tsiros [email protected] Greece’s finance ministry on Monday said it had exceeded revenue targets by 386 million euros in the first five-month period of the year, with 15.755 billion…

Greek shipbuilding in the LNG fuel era detailed at Piraeus Port Authority event

The present and the future of Greece’s shipbuilding industry in the era of LNG as fuel was the focus of a presentation organized by Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) at its…