How the world sees Greece
MSU Greeks encourages East Lansing Community to participate in Greek Week Lansing State Journal East Lansing, MI March 19, 2012: Each year the MSU Greek community comes together to compete in the name of charity during Greek Week, a week-long fundraising event that benefits one large charity and three smaller local philanthropies that were ... |
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Fears mount that Russia could act against European companies if charge on deposits hits €30bn Russian investments
Fears are growing of Russian reprisals against European businesses as EU authorities desperately seek a deal to save the Cypriot economy by imposing a 25% levy on bank deposits of more than €100,000.
As the island scrambled to put together a rescue programme, its finance minister, Michalis Sarris, said "significant progress" had been made on the latest levy plan in talks with officials from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The government in Nicosia faces a deadline of Monday to reach an agreement or the European Central Bank says it will cut off emergency cash to the island, spelling the likely financial collapse of its banking system and a potential exit from the European single currency.
However, with Russian investors having an estimated €30bn (£26bn) deposited in banks on the island, the growing optimism about a deal was accompanied by fears of retaliation from Moscow. Alexander Nekrassov, a former Kremlin adviser, said: "If it is the case that there will be a 25% levy on deposits greater than €100,000 then some Russians will suffer very badly.
"Then, of course, Moscow will be looking for ways to punish the EU. There are a number of large German companies operating in Russia. You could possibly look at freezing assets or taxing assets. The Kremlin is adopting a wait and see policy."
Nekrassov rejected suggestions that Russia might hit back by cutting off gas supplies, a tactic the country used in 2009 after the collapse of talks with Ukraine to end a row over unpaid bills and energy pricing.
"Gas is no longer a weapon," Nekrassov said. "When Russia did that before, it realised that the foreign energy lobby reacted and efforts to find alternative sources were increased. If Russia kept threatening, it knows that nobody would be buying its gas in 20 years' time."
Mike Ingram, an analyst at City broker BGC Partners, said: "In Russia, historically, if they want an asset they just grab it. If they want cash out of a [EU] business [in Russia] they just create a tax bill or raid offices and make your life unpleasant. They could also make life difficult diplomatically on issues such as Syria. They might also rattle a few sabres over deployment of the missile defence system."
In a week of high-stakes brinkmanship, the EU, ECB and IMF – the so-called "troika" behind the rescue of five southern European countries – had refused to budge on its insistence that Cyprus raise €5.8bn of its own revenues to qualify for the bailout aid.
The latest levy plan reflected Nicosia's fast-dwindling options.
Last week Cypriot MPs overwhelmingly rejected a similar levy proposal – even after it was adjusted to remove any charge on savings below €20,000 – triggering a week of tumult as Nicosia tried and failed to win financial support from Russia instead.
The tax on savings is unprecedented in Europe's handling of a debt crisis that has spread from Greece to Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy. The crisis has reignited uncertainty about the future of the eurozone just as many EU leaders began to believe the worst was over for the single currency.
On Saturday, uncertainty shrouding the island turned from unease on the streets, where people have rushed en masse to withdraw money from cash machines, to scenes of panic-buying.
The inept handling of the crisis by politicians has exacerbated a dark mood with many Cypriots fearing that they stand to lose life savings following the government's decision to also raise funds by restructuring Laiki, the island's second biggest bank.
Marios Panayides, 65, a protester outside the Cypriot parliament said: "Our so-called friends and partners sold us out. They have completely abandoned us on the edge of an abyss."
Retailers, facing cash-on-delivery demands from suppliers, warned stocks were running low. "At the moment, supplies will last another two or three days," said Adamos Hadijadamou, head of Cyprus's Association of Supermarkets. "We'll have a problem if this is not resolved by next week."
Cypriots fear the damage the levy would do to the country's offshore banking industry. Much of the Cypriot banks' capital was wiped out by the collapse of investments in Greece, the epicentre of the euro zone debt crisis.
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Cyprus is on its knees, with its banks on the verge of closing doors for good and locals and expatriates alike wondering if the island can be saved. Even if a deal with Europe's bankers can be agreed, it will come at an inordinately heavy price
As zero hour approaches, a small island population watches and waits, consumed with anxiety and simmering with resentment. "This is the darkest week in Cyprus since the 1974 invasion," said Hubert Faustmann, associate professor of history and politics at the University of Nicosia. "The island has been put on the Greek path. What lies ahead are further cuts, austerity measures, more bailouts, because it won't be able to repay the loans, endless misery and recession. It will take years to recover."
"I have never been so frightened in my life," said Maria Panayides, one of thousands of Cypriots who last week rushed to withdraw cash from ATMs.
Cypriots are torn between fury and fear. On Saturday, despite signs that the country's politicians were edging closer to brokering a deal with rescuers at the European Union and International Monetary Fund, it was panic that had taken over as people stormed supermarkets, jammed streets with cars and piled every conceivable product into trolleys. "It may be the very last time I can use this," said one man waving a credit card outside Athienitis, a mega-store in Nicosia. "We might not have banks next week."
"We're overwhelmed," said Marios Hadjichristofi, the shop's customer care officer. "Everyone is calling in, asking if they can still conduct transactions without cash."
The drama engulfing the eurozone's third smallest economy deepened on Saturday night as Cyprus's increasingly isolated president, Nicos Anatasiades, flew to Brussels, Democratic Rally party leaders at his side, for urgent talks with top officials. At no other time since the outbreak of Europe's gruelling debt crisis has a politician faced such pressure.
Nearly a year after it suffered devastating losses to a banking system heavily exposed to Greece, Brussels has read the riot act to Cyprus: either the island accepts draconian rescue terms that include killing off its reputation as an offshore tax haven – the engine of its economy, along with tourism – or it goes under.
After hours of negotiations, Nicosia's 56-member parliament looks poised to acquiesce, passing an array of bills aimed solely at raising €5.8bn (£4.9bn), the condition that it must meet to qualify for €10bn in aid.
Crucially, the finance minister, Michalis Sarris, on Saturday signalled that the government was considering revisiting the highly contentious issue of slapping levies on Cypriot bank account holders. The tax, he conceded, could be as high as 25%. This was a U-turn that no democratically elected government likes to make. In Cyprus it amounts to political suicide, given that on Tuesday Greek Cypriot MPs described the plan as "bank robbery" and unanimously rejected the proposal after a raucous debate in parliament.
Other desperate gambits have been coming thick and fast. In an equally controversial move, lawmakers also agreed to wind down the island's second biggest bank, Laiki, a step that could affect up to 390,000 depositors and leave 8,000 bank employees unemployed, even if it will also raise close to €3bn.
With the country's solvency hanging by a thread, banks have been closed for the past week and are unlikely to open before Tuesday. Even if a financial assistance programme is agreed by Monday, when the European Central Bank has threatened to cut off emergency funding to failing Cypriot lenders, it will come at an inordinately heavy price. Addressing her MPs in Berlin, German chancellor Angela Merkel last week upped the ante, saying that Cyprus would have to change its business model as an offshore tax haven, where Russian oligarchs have parked over ¤30bn in deposits, or pay the price of being cut loose from the EU.
That is far more easily said in Berlin than done in Nicosia. How does a country transform its economic affairs overnight? The proposed 25% levy on accounts over €100,000 would strike Cyprus's wealthy foreign clients most of all – the vast number of them, 80% according to Citibank, being Russian. The prospect of such an assault on the country's most wealthy bank accounts would have seemed barely credible only a week ago.
Limassol, the port city that is home to the bulk of Cyprus's Russian emigres and expats, stood eerily quiet. Seaside cafes and restaurants, usually bustling with weekend revellers, were largely empty. Some groceries and clothing shops catering to Russians shuttered their doors.
Cypriots working with the country's vast Russian clientele reacted to the proposal with rage. Around $32bn of the accounts in Cypriot banks – nearly half of the total – belong to Russians.
"We would be ready for them to take a bigger haircut from regular Cypriots, but leave the foreigners alone," said a Cypriot lawyer who advises Russian firms on setting up Cyprus-based companies. Russians have flocked to the island in a bid to avoid Russia's politicised justice system and corrupt corporate sphere, while taking advantage of Cyprus's flexible approach to storing what many fear are ill-gotten gains.
A tax on wealthy depositors would destroy Cyprus's reputation as a safe haven. Some analysts have suggested that this was the motivation behind the EU's bailout plan.
At the Lighthouse, a posh Russian-owned cafe overlooking the Mediterranean, a table of wealthy Russian women heatedly discussed the crisis in Cyprus over a bottle of pink champagne. News of the potential 25% levy capped a week of furious negotiating and competing proposals, and the women said they were dubious the proposal would pass.
"Have you seen the draft law? I still believe they will take 10%," said Natasha, 41, who works at the Limassol office of a Russian energy firm. "If they want to take 25%, let them," said Tatyana Pellinen, 51, who has lived on the island for five years with her Finnish husband. "I lost so much in Lehman Brothers already – taking 25% is better than taking 40% or everything."
Russians in Limassol have grown increasingly angry over the spotlight that the crisis in Cyprus has shone on their investments on the island. "I don't know what is laundered, but if Russians didn't [bring money] here there would be no work," said Pellinen. "They tax it, they take it – and suddenly it's dirty money. This is all being built up so that everyone is OK with money being taken from Russians."
From being a sunny destination favoured by millions of British tourists every year, Cyprus this weekend resembled a country on its knees. With the collapse of its vibrant offshore banking system now the price of financial assistance, Cyprus's 800,000-strong population, almost overnight, faces economic destitution, mass unemployment and plummeting living standards.
"Most Cypriots will see the rescue package as a destruction package," said Faustmann. "It will lead to a major re-assessment of how they, and politicians, view Europe."
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 Greek Reporter | Corfu Gets A Real Greek Breakfast Greek Reporter Corfu_breakfast A Greek Corfiot breakfast was provided on March 23 by Corfu hotel owners at the Corfu Palace Hotel with the collaboration of the Chefs Club of Corfu. This initiative was accomplished in the context of Greek breakfast promotion to the ... |
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Greek Exports Boomed In 2012 Greek Reporter 743f420ee77989401314a1741cbb74fb_XL Partially offsetting dire news for the rest of the economy, Greek exports took off in 2012,giving the country the distinction of the biggest growth in the area, climbing two places in the 27 countries of the European ... |
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 RT | Greek prison break: Grenade and rifle assault leaves 2 wounded, 11 prisoners ... RT At least 11 inmates escaped from a central Greek prison Friday after a bloody all-night AK-47 shootout with warders. Eleven Albanian inmates at Trikala Prison showered the watchmen with bullets before going on the run. Some six gunmen wielding grenades ... 11 inmates escape, 2 guards hurt after gunmen attack Greek prison; 2 escapees ... Greek prisoners missing after gunmen storm jail 11 inmates escape Greek prison, 2 guards injured: official statement |
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 Greek Reporter | Greece Prison Shooting: 2 Injured, 11 Escape In Gun, Grenade Attack In Trikala Huffington Post TRIKALA, Greece -- At least 11 inmates escaped from a Greek prison after gunmen brazenly attacked the site with grenades and automatic weapons, kicking off a nightlong standoff between police and prisoners. Two guards were injured, one of them ... Greece: Bombs and Guns Used In Jailbreak Gunmen attack Greece prison Greece: 2 hurt, 11 escape in prison shooting |
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Large PV Power Plants Planned For Greece & Italy CleanTechnica greece church rooftop A couple of big new solar PV projects in Greece and Japan have just been announced. In Greece, Italy-based Energy Resources Ltd and China Development Bank have teamed up on a contract for a 32-MW solar PV park. The €50 ... |
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TRIKALA, Greece - At least 11 inmates escaped from a Greek prison after gunmen brazenly attacked the site with grenades and automatic weapons, kicking off a nightlong standoff between police and prisoners. Two guards were injured, one of them seriously.
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 Washington Post | 11 inmates escape, 2 guards hurt after gunmen attack Greek prison; 2 escapees ... Washington Post TRIKALA, Greece — At least 11 inmates escaped from a Greek prison after gunmen brazenly attacked the site with grenades and automatic weapons, kicking off a nightlong standoff between police and prisoners. Two guards were injured, one of them ... Greek prison break: Grenade and rifle assault leaves 2 wounded, 11 prisoners ... Greek prisoners missing after gunmen storm jail Police official: 11 escape, 2 hurt after gunmen attack Greek prison |
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 FOXSports.com | Greek kids earn Barca tickets FOXSports.com On Sunday, the little team from Greece - dubbed ''Baby Barcelona'' by the Greek media - will play against a Barcelona youth team at the club's academy. ''We like the passing game,'' AO striker Diogenis Eleftheriou said, referring to his team's plans ... |
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Dangerous Times: Crypto-Fascism in Italy, Hungary, Greece, Albania American Thinker Golden Dawn in Greece has a nearly identical political program to the other crypto-parties. And finally, next-door in Albania, the elected government of Sali Berisha is being tarred and feathered by the Red and Black Party, run vendetta-style by one ... |
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 Kathimerini | Disappointing Greece suffers in Bosnia Kathimerini Greece played a disastrous game in Bosnia on Friday to suffer a 3-1 defeat that all but condemns it to missing out on direct qualification to the 2014 World Cup finals. Major problems in defense and midfield saw Greece unable to contain the might of ... Bosnia beats Greece 3-1 in World Cup qualifying Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Greece, 2014 World Cup qualifying: Preview and TV ... Bosnia awaits Greece with Macedonian flags |
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Greece's Piraeus to buy out local units of Cypriot banks Cyprus Mail GREECE'S Piraeus Bank has been chosen to take over the Greek branches of Cypriot lenders that are being sold, Greece's bank bailout fund confirmed yesterday. The deal is subject to approval by European competition authorities, a statement from the ... |
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Greece Man Arrested for Child Pornography Rochester YNN Attorneys say Terrance Junot III, 36, took part in a series of sexually explicit online chats with a 13-year-old. They say Junot sent photos of himself to the child and persuaded the child to send some to him. Attorneys say the child's mother found the ... Greece Man Arrested, Charged With Production Of Child Porn Greece man charged with child pornography Greece man charged with producing child pornography |
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 Greek Reporter | Police official: 11 escape, 2 hurt after gunmen attack Greek prison Fox News Police official: 11 escape, 2 hurt after gunmen attack Greek prison. Published March 23, 2013. Associated Press. TRIKALA, Greece – At least eleven inmates have escaped from a prison in central Greece after gunmen brazenly attacked the site with ... Prison guards hurt in Greek jail break |
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