English

Thursday, 22 June 2017

Hellenic Petroleum shareholders general assembly on Fri.; BoD announced

A general assembly of Hellenic Petroleum (Hel.Pe) shareholders will take place as scheduled on Friday, following an compromise reached between the two biggest shareholders of Greece’s largest petro-chemical conglomerate, the…

Macron-Tsipras meeting in Brussels

French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly expressed his satisfaction with the results of last week’s Eurogroup meeting and the agreement over the Greek issue that emerged from the session, in a…

IOBE: Thessaloniki port authority privatization to benefit economy by up to 1.6 bln€ over 10 years

The Athens-based Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE) has calculated additional benefits for the Greek economy of up to 1.6 billion euros over a 10-year period from the privatization…

ESM’s Regling: 800 mln€ disbursed to Greece after summer to cover arrears to private sector

A pending 8.5-billion-euro loan tranche to bailout-dependent Greece – approved last week by the Eurogroup – will be disbursed in two installments, European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Managing Director Klaus Regling…

Garbage strike continues in greater Athens area; unions demand permanent hirings

Piles of rubbish continued to accumulate around overflowing bins in the greater Athens area this week in the wake of repeated strikes called by a federation comprised of unions representing…

Athens refers to provocation after Muslim prayers read out at Hagia Sophia

Official Greece issued a quick rebuke on Thursday morning over the latest religious service held at the iconic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, essentially referring to a provocation by the Turkish…

New unified social security fund posts surplus in first 5 months since creation

By S. Papapetros [email protected] The unified social insurances fund (EFKA) appears to be easily exceeding revenue targets in the first five months of since its inception, posting a surplus of…

Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Moscovici: Greece ready to exit excessive deficit procedure

The European Commission will recommend that Greece is removed from the excessive deficit procedure (EDP), European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday. Moscovici, amongst Athens’…

Motion filed with high court to quash indictment of privatization fund experts, including 3 EU nationals

A motion was filed with Greece’s supreme court on Wednesday to reverse a previous appellate council ruling that allows the indictment of six experts previously affiliated with the country’s privatization…

Natgas supplier reportedly ready to enter power production market; IGB project eyes construction date

Greece’s state-run natgas supplier, DE.PA, appears poised to enter the domestic power generation market, with sources close to the utility saying that the purchase of a minority stake in a…

Greek econ minister: Access to ECB’s QE program now more ‘symbolic’

Greece’s economy minister on Wednesday essentially downplayed the prospects of the domestic banking system rejoining the ECB’s asset purchasing program – better known as Quantitative Easing (QE) – one of…

HOTREC: Greece in Europe’s ‘Top 3’ as a destination for fine cuisine, variety of foods

By L. Karageorgos [email protected] The tourism and travel sector continues to shine as a beacon for present and future economic growth in Greece, with a recent major study showing that…

Commission report expected to recommend more Greek debt relief, even in best-case scenario

Press reports and sources from Brussels this week mostly converged on the fact that a soon-to-be released debt sustainability analysis (DSA) by the EU Commission on the Greek debt will…

Greek FinMin in London for contacts with investment funds

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos will depart on Wednesday for London where he’ll participate in meetings with representatives of investment funds and companies, according to a press release issued by…

Major study: No coordination betwee real economy, businesses and higher education in Greece

By S. Emmanouil [email protected] Despite eight years of a crushing economic crisis in Greece the country’s higher education system continues to churn out degrees with very low marketability, many employers…

Reuters: Debate in Bundestag over Greek program, Eurogroup deal delayed by a week

Debate in the Bundestag regarding last week’s agreement at the Eurogroup on the Greek issue and disbursement of an 8.5-billion-euro loan tranche to Greece was postponed for next week, instead…

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Bloomberg: Commission reports expresses serious reservations over Greek debt sustainability

A report by the European Commission’s economic and financial affairs council expresses serious reservations about the long-term sustainability of the Greek debt, according to a dispatch on Monday afternoon circulated…

Independent authority: Only 1/8 of 94.7 bln€ in arrears owed to Greek state easily collected

G. Palaitsakis [email protected] Only one-eighth of outstanding arrears owed to the state are easily “collectible” by tax authorities, according to the latest figures announced by the newly created Independent Authority…

Regling: Loan tranche to be disbursed in early July

ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling on Tuesday said a loan tranche to Greece, reaching 8.5 billion euros, will be disbursed in early July. In comments to the CNBC network, he…

Opposition leader insists on Parliament debate, full disclosure of Eurogroup results

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for a complete disclosure of everything agreed to by the Greek side at last week’s Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg, the session…

Govt spox takes issue with Regling comments on perceived Cabinet opposition to reforms, privatizations

The Greek government spokesman referred to “non-institutional interventions” aimed at creating internal “divisions” in the current government, when asked to comment on recent statements by ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling.…

Prospect of precautionary credit line re-appears after third Greek bailout ends; 45.8 bln€ remains untapped

Βy T. Tsiros [email protected] The prospect of a precautionary credit line for crisis-bedeviled Greece has resurfaced after two and a half years, as the end of the current memorandum (August…

Power utility PPC to compile list of units up for sale; autumn market test cited

Greece’s state-run and dominant power utility (PPC) will reportedly announce the lignite-fired units that it will place on the selling block in a matter of weeks, with Athens expected to…

Monday, 19 June 2017

ECSA president-designate Lascaridis: Main priority is to maintain European shipping as global leader

The president-designate of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), Panos Lascaridis, this week reiterated that his sector group’s priority is to maintain European shipping’s competitive edge and to improve the…

Long-term unemployed in Greece nears 780K

By S. Papapetros [email protected] The number of long-term unemployed continued to hover at very high levels in recession-battered Greece, recent figures show, despite a gradual decrease in the number of…

Regling: Greece foray into markets this year or 2018 if reform program continues

European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Managing Director Klaus Regling on Monday said it was likely that currently bailout-dependent Greece may return to the markets for its borrowing needs this year or…

Cyprus issue discussed in meeting between Turkish PM, Greek opposition leader

Greek-Turkish relations, the migrant/refugee crisis and the long-standing Cyprus issue were at the center of talks on Monday between visiting Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and main opposition New Democracy…

Greek industrial index improved in April, yoy

The industrial turnover index shot up in Greece in April 2017, posting a 10.7-percent increase on an annual basis. The same figure for April 2016 was a negative 13.9 percent,…

Int’l consortium declared ‘preferred investor’ in Thessaloniki Port Authority privatization

Greece’s privatization fund (HRADF) on Monday declared the international consortium that submitted the highest bid for a majority stake of the Thessaloniki Port Authority SA as the preferred investor in…

Moody’s cites ‘credit positive’ develompent with NBG’s sale of Bulgarian operations

Moody’s on Monday said National Bank of Greece’s sale last week of its Bulgarian subsidiaries is a “credit positive” development, while also forecasting the Greek systemic bank will be the first in the country to pay…