A bull market for so-called “peripheral” sovereign bonds, comprising Greek, Portuguese, Irish, Spanish and Italian debt, has been emerging.
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How the world sees Greece
Monday, November 24, 2014
Think twice before buying in Spanish, Italian, Greek bonds
Community’s Lawyers Showcase Their Hellenism at Annual HLA Gala
NEW YORK – At the lavish Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue and 61st Street in Manhattan across the street from Central Park, it was easy on the evening of November 21 to determine which group was comprised of Greek lawyers. One flight up from the Pierre’s opulent lobby led to a large area that contained […] The post Community’s Lawyers Showcase Their Hellenism at Annual HLA Gala appeared first on The National Herald.
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BoG plans single ‘bad bank’
The Bank of Greece is contemplating the creation of a single “bad bank” to merge all the loan portfolios of banks under liquidation such as ATEBank, Hellenic Postbank, Probank, Proton and certain cooperative banks. The aim of the central lender is to maxi... ...
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All three bids accepted in regional airport tender
All three consortiums interested in the privatization of Greece’s regional airports have made it to the second stage of the tender, which concerns binding bids, state sell-off fund TAIPED decided on Monday. The fund’s board ratified a recommendation by it... ...
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Greek PM Meets With Govt VP Ahead of Troika Meeting in Paris
Yet another meeting was held earlier today at the government headquarters between Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and government Vice President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, ahead of the negotiations with Troika representatives ...
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Crucial talks with troika in Paris
A Greek government delegation is to meet representatives of the country’s troika of international lenders in Paris on Tuesday for two days of talks aimed at bridging a rift between the two sides and relaunching a stalled economic review in a last-ditch at... ...
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Greek league ready to resume after attack on official
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece's SuperLeague elected Giorgos Borovilos as president on Monday and asked the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) to ...
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BREAKING: Sheffield dad's tears as men acquitted of unlawfully killing his son on Greek holiday
Now four men have finally appeared in court, charged under the Greek criminal code with exposure to harm - which can carry a prison sentence of up ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thestar.co.uk |
Thessaloniki man sentenced to 20 years for German school hostage crisis
A 55-year-old man in Thessaloniki was sentenced to 20 years in jail on Monday for taking hostages at a German school in the northern Greek city in 2009. Costas Arabatzis kidnapped the school’s headmaster and administrator, as well as a teacher, asking for... ...
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Teenager arrested over Facebook profile featuring indecent images of girls
The Greek Police’s cyber crimes unit has arrested a 16-year-old boy in Athens for allegedly setting up a fake Facebook profile and posting indecent images of underage girls. Police launched an investigation after allegations were made by three girls, aged... ...
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Professor convicted over accepting bribes to pass students
A professor at the University of Macedonia in northern Greece has been suspended following his conviction for seeking under-the-table-payments from students who wanted to pass his class. The academic, also known as “the grosser” among his colleagues, had ... ...
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Nine Greek Artists in Paris Exhibition
Nine Greek artists will participate in this year’s biggest European art exhibition “Art en Capital” in Paris, France. This is the sixth time Greek artists exhibit their works in the prestigious art show that will run November 25-30 at the Grand Palais.
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Greek Negotiators, Creditors to Meet in Paris for Talks Tuesday: Ministry
MOSCOW, November 24 (Sputnik) – Greek negotiators will hold talks with their international creditors on Tuesday to discuss the countries' early exit ...
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Greece to Abolish Operating Permits for 897 Professions
Greece’s government plans to abolish operating permits for almost 900 professions, Minister of Development Kostas Skrekas announced on Monday. According to Skrekas, permits will not be needed anymore for 897 professions, which account for 14.3% of the ...
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U.Va. frat leader sickened by rape allegation
Tommy Reid, president of the U.Va. Inter-Fraternity Council, said during a news conference called by student leaders that a temporary ban on fraternity activities will give the Greek system a chance to "take a breath" and come up with solutions
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Two Greek Police Officers Involved in Drug Trafficking Ring
Two Greek police officers are amongst those accused of being members of a crime ring, which controled the entire drug trafficking network on the islands of Lemnos and Agios Efstratios in the eastern Aegean Sea under its control. According to police, the crime ring involved at least 45 individuals, while the case was handled by Greek Police‘s Department of Internal Affairs. The investigations began in December 2013 by the Internal Affairs office in Mytilene, Greece. The accused police officers were stationed at the Lemnos police department and their responsibility was to cover the rest of the team members during drug trafficking operations. In one case last September, the two police officers covered the gang leader, who went from Athens, where he resides, to Lemnos, along with another associate and shot an opposing criminal organization member, resulting an injury to his leg. The two police officers evacuated him back to Athens, where he was apparently arrested for the assault and was brought to justice, although he was released on bail and he is currently on the run, while wanted for the drug trafficking case. Along with the two police officers, seven more individuals were arrested. Five of them are Greek nationals and two foreigners. The two policemen face charges of establishment and participation in a criminal organization, violation of drug law, resistance against the authorities, aiding a criminal, abuse of power, violation of police regulations and violation of weapons law. According to the police announcement, the crime ring has distributed large quantities of heroin, cocaine, cannabis and other synthetic drugs to users in Lemnos and Agios Efstratios. The drugs were transported by ferries from Piraeus or by mail.
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Painted Figures Found in Greece's Mystery Tomb
Painted human figures have been discovered at the mysterious, richly-decorated tomb in Amphipolis in northern Greece, according to a news ...
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Greece faces two decades to recoup lost jobs: labour group
Greece, in the throes of soaring unemployment and a six-year recession, faced a "prolonged social crisis" which could last another two decades, the ...
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Most Traded FBR: HCA Holdings, Inc. (HCA), National Bank of Greece S.A. (NBG), The TJX ...
National Bank of Greece S.A. (NBG) of the Financial sector (Money Center Banks) has lost -0.81% from open per share at mid-day today. National ...
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Greece says three groups reach final stage of airport tender
The tender to operate airport terminals at some of Greece's most popular ... Greece has signed privatisation deals worth about 5 billion euros since it ...
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Greek unemployment could cause social crisis – business live
There is a good chance, therefore, that the IFO survey is lending support to the ECB's contention that, subdued though the euro zone economy may be, it is still skirting recession. ...
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Greek Prosecutors Call 64 Involved in Siemens Scandal
Greek financial crime prosecutors handling the Siemens bribery scandal have completed their 2,368-page long proposal on the case, recommending that 64 involved individuals face criminal charges of active and passive bribery along with money laundering, as well as illicit payments for contracts signed between the German colossal company and the Greek state-owned telecommunications company, OTE, while the final decision regarding the charges will be made by the Appeals Court Council. Nineteen of those charged are Siemens executive officials, 14 are OTE executive officials and eight are employees of the consultancy company that got involved in the so-called “8002” contract signed in the late 1990s, aiming to modernize Greece’s national telecommunications network. The remaining 23 are involved in companies that handled money from Siemens’ “black funds.” Among those accused of involvement are 17 German nationals and the prosecutors had to fully examine hundreds of bank accounts in order to trace the illicit payments’ path. Apart from the “8002” contract, bribes were also allegedly paid by Siemens to ensure the contract for the C4I security system installed before the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. In total, the damage caused to the Greek state by the “8002” contract is estimated to reach some 62 million euros, while the first investigation regarding the case was first launched in 2006 by the current chief financial crime prosecutor Panagiotis Athanasiou, while the case’s examination was completed by deputy financial crime prosecutor Galinos Bris. The “8002” contract was summed to 700 million euros and part of it was used to bribe Greek officials and influence the deal between OTE and Siemens.
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The Best Public Library in Greece
The Veria Public Library in northern Greece is a model library that serves 61% of the city’s population and shows what can be done when the staff love their jobs. Aspasia Tasiopoulou, the library’s public relations manager, says the Veria Public Library employs 21 people, has 30,000 members, lends 200,000 items per year, is part of Europeana and participates in all related EU programs. It adds continuously into its digital archives – now at 700,000 digital pages – while at the same time continuously tries to attract sponsors and donors. And this is extremely important since, as Tasiopoulou said, state funding barely covers the electricity bills alone. What makes this library so successful is that it operates in order to serve people and cater to their 21st century needs. On a typical day, it is filled with people of all ages: Children playing with educational toys, others reading stories on computer screens, unemployed people creating their CVs or looking for job openings, young entrepreneurs learning how to use the internet to sell their products online, migrants looking for books in their language or chatting with their relatives online, pensioners trying to set up blogs, university students working on research projects. The Veria Public Library lends more things than books and DVDs. Veria citizens can also borrow Kindle, music instruments, video camera, portable recording studio, 3D printer, Maker Space and more. The current state of the Veria Public Library is the result of 25 years of work by previous director Yiannis Trochopoulos, who is now director of the National Library. The current director, Antonis Galitsios, continues in his steps. Funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation “Future Library” program, the Veria library was modernized and expanded. Four years ago, it won the Bill and Melinda Gates Access to Learning Award (ATLA). The one-million-dollar award went to a new, 180 square-meter section on the first floor. The “Future Library” project representative, Dimitris Protopsaltou, noted that very few young people were visiting the library in the past. It was a challenge, he said, but now the library attracts youngsters who in the past frequented internet cafes and bars.
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Portraits of Labor Market Exclusion in Europe
A new study presents portraits of people who are out-of-work in six EU countries – Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, and Romania – and ...
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Greece Intends to Exit EU, IMF Bailout Program a Year Ahead of Schedule
Greek officials will hold talks with the 'troika' of international inspectors in Paris on Tuesday, November 25. Greece's government wants to exit its ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT sputniknews.com |
Troika returns to Greece amid concerns over bailout exit
Fears that a delayed review by EU/IMF inspectors will derail Greece’s plan to quit its bailout by the end of the yearGreece’s government will resume stalled talks with EU/IMF lenders in Paris on Tuesday, as Athens pushes to conclude a crucial review by inspectors so it can make an early exit to an unpopular bailout programme.Athens had set a 8 December deadline to complete the review. But talks floundered over a projected budget gap for next year and EU/IMF inspectors did not return as expected to Athens this month, leading to concerns that a delayed review would derail Greece’s plan to quit its bailout by the end of the year. Continue reading...
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Podenomics vs. Podemology, or Reality vs. Economic Illusions
Societies have an absolute desire for change. Although not everyone sees this the same way, it does seem clear that we have brought about a widespread desire to change the current state of affairs. The problem lies in the identification of the change required, which is largely determined by our ability to imagine alternatives. This imagination has been over-enthusiastically pruned back in the last few years. The partisanship in which Spanish society currently lives does not allow us to perceive the real nature of change, crushing us under a discouraging "this is what has to be done." We must escape from this partisan framework, and focus on the immediate problems and the solutions proposed for them. Podemos, the new party that surprised Spain in recent European elections, is suffering precisely from this. It is new, and this novelty brings the uncertainty associated with the unknown. This encourages some, but causes others to keep their distance. Traditional political parties unfairly use this uncertainty to attack Podemos' economic proposals. However the attack does not come because economic proposals are unrealistic, but because they are based on different economic frameworks. It is not true to say that Podemos' economic program has intrinsic weaknesses. That would be tantamount to saying that the proposals of the Partido Popular (PP, the centre-right party currently in power) are more "realistic." Some say that the economic proposals that have been put forward over recent decades by heterodox economist are fantasies, and that should perhaps be called 'Podemology'. In this article, we argue the contrary: that those heterodox proposals are not astrological conceptions, but instead economically justified independent approaches, based upon different ways of thinking about, and applying, economics. A better term could be be 'Podenomics' -- understood in the same sense as Clintonomics, Reagonomics or Abenomics. Faced with the deterioration of the situation in which we live, it is necessary to find monetary and fiscal policies, and structural reforms, which are different to those applied so far. It is necessary to use the public sector for economic stimulus. And we must see a new way to address economic, social and political problems. Our thesis is: we possess a solid economic foundation with which to face up to these changes, although the official thinking insists on ignoring this, and on making us believe that there are no alternatives. Consider an especially important case (noting that this reasoning can be extended to all aspects of the economy): sovereign debt. The solvency of a country is basically guaranteed by future primary surpluses being greater than the difference between long-term nominal interest rates minus the growth rate, multiplied by the debt/GDP ratio. In other words, public sector income minus expenditures have to be sufficient to pay existing debt plus any new debt generated. This calculation shows the level of primary surplus we have to generate to stabilize the debt/GDP ratio. It shows that if we had wanted to stabilize Spanish debt/GDP ratio in 2013, we should have generated a primary surplus of six percent in 2014! It goes without saying that we did not even get close. The debt/GDP ratio will continue to increase in Spain (and it is already at 100 percent). To this analysis we must also add some factors that worsen the scenario. For instance, we have assumed constant long term nominal interest rates. We used the previous average of the last five years' long-term (10 years) Spanish bond yields, implied that it will stay at that level for the next five years. This risks ignoring the Eurozone's situation and excess liquidity created by the ECB (which shows signs of increasing) which keeps the risk premium under control, but is also generating a financial assets bubble. Stock indexes are hitting record historical highs, even though none of the European peripheral countries' "fundamentals" have improved since 2007. Quite the opposite, the reduction European peripheral countries' risk premiums is only being sustained by the ECB's resolve to do "whatever it takes" to save the Euro. This has translated into the provision of huge quantities of liquidity, with probable increases in the near future via quantitative easing. This is a fragile equilibrium which can be disturbed at any time, with the additional problem that the macroeconomic framework is significantly worse today than it was five years ago. A second element that aggravates the situation is that in the formula cited above, we have assumed a constant growth rate (the average of the prior five years). However, the current situation does not provide grounds for optimism regarding the future growth rate. The monetary policy of the ECB, always lagging the needs of the Eurozone, has been combined with an over restrictive fiscal policy by the austerity enthusiast governments of the Eurozone's peripheral countries. This has generated an unprecedented destruction of productive capacity in these countries. The best unemployment rate that Spain has produced (during periods of democracy) was eight percent (in 2007). But the growth that allowed this outlier was due to the real estate bubble that absorbed 3 million of workers, financed by a rampant inflation of real estate prices. In this moment there is neither productive capacity to capable of employing 25 percent of unemployed workers, nor industry sectors with any possibility of creating such capacity. The rate of destruction of industrial employment continues, and long-term unemployment has reached an alarming 13 percent of the active population. A recent national statistics report shows a continued decline in Spanish industrial manufacturing production, with a slight increase in some service sectors. In Spain the service sector has a smaller knock-on effect on the economy than manufacturing, is highly seasonal, and is characterized by an atomization of market structures. A minor increase in some of its activities is not, and cannot be interpreted as, the path to the recovery of the jobs lost in recent years. Since Spain has a much-reduced productive capacity, and since we have decimated internal demand, our only hope is that Eurozone demand will enhance our exports. However, according to Mario Draghi (the ECB's president), the Eurozone is currently in a deflationary process with France, Italy and Germany close to economic cardiac arrest, with no capacity to generate the demand that would allow Spain to produce enough growth to stabilize its public debt. Christine Lagarde (the IMF's president), always optimistic, called this situation a "new era of mediocre growth." This analysis illustrates that economic growth is not in the horizon. Even in the more optimistic scenario represented by IMF and Spanish government projections -- with growth rates near one percent -- our calculation shows that growth will be not enough to stabilize the debt/GDP ratio. Furthermore, according to Draghi, if austerity measures do not stop immediately, the ratio might accelerate upwards due to the deflationary process in which we find ourselves. This economic reasoning demonstrates that there are only two solutions for overcoming deflation and this stabilize Spain's debt/GDP ratio. On the one hand, the government can implement budgets cuts which generate a brutal surplus of, at least, six percent in 2015. Taking into account that the official government projection for 2015 is a deficit of 4.2 percent of GDP, this option would literally collapse the entire economy. This is not the solution to anything. On the other hand, we have the possibility of restructuring the debt. The extent of the restructuring must be enough to reduce, or even eliminate, the need to produce such a large primary surplus. Those asserting that such a scenario would produce a financial catastrophe and economic collapse are dissimulating, since the question is not if a restructuring will take place, but rather, under which conditions it will happen. For example, the debt restructuring in Greece in 2012 did not stabilize the debt/GDP ratio. On the contrary, it provoked an increase up to an unsustainable 174 percent. This is not Podemology, it is Podenomics. To avoid this, the principles that should guide this process are: The write-down must be large enough to produce the necessary fiscal space to allow the implementation of an independent economic policy. The further off that day is, the greater the write-down must be, and also the costs. In the case of Greece, current estimations of the required write-down are around 200 billion Euros. The real irresponsibility is that, knowing all the data, the process is being delayed until debt payments turn out to be unsustainable, and so, facing default, sovereign states' margin for maneuver reduced to simply agreeing to Troika conditions. It must be implemented with democratic controls. Since the reduction affects debtors and creditors, there must be a mechanism to match their negotiation powers so as the result will not be a social catastrophe for the former, and an unbearable financial burden for the latter. The technical term for this is a 'democratic audit.' Different measures must be combined. This is not the place for describing all the available tools, but there are a collection of measures that implemented together minimize the costs and maximize the gains. Debt sustainability does not depend only on the interests rates, it crucially depends on GDP growth. The generation of moderated and controlled inflation would reduce debt burden for governments, which in turn, would increase their disposable incomes. On the other hand, the reduction in the real value of their mortgages would increase disposable income of families. The continuous repetition of "TINA" (There Is No Alternative) is not a symptom of weakness of Podenomics. It is the unmistakable sign that conservative recipes hide always behind the supposed technical asepsis of economics. Progressive and conservative economic projects do not diverge in how "truthful" they are. They are different because they are based on different political frameworks. Podemos opens up a political space for the application of economic proposals that have been developed by the heterodox economists of the last decades. The science of economics is also experiencing a period of change. It is possible to confront those radical changes without the fear of the abyss. We have a strong economic argument based on years of development of a critical approach. The case of debt restructuring is an important example: it is not a taboo, nor irrational nor impossible to confront it. But it will become more difficult to handle if it is not rapidly dealt with via a radical modification of the policy instruments that are currently being implemented.
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HRADF Receives Binding Offers for Regional Greek Airports
Fourteen regional airports from respective Greek cities will be privatized within the following months as the binding offers from potential investors have already been filed to the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) and according to the schedule, they will be opened tommorow. The tenders handed to the Fund so far are from Vinci Airports SAS-Aktor Concessions SA, Fraport AG-Slentel Ltd and Casa (Corporation America SA)-Metka SA. The 14 airports’ privatization plan, which will be allocated to investors for 40 years, includes Thessaloniki, Chania, Corfu, Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Preveza, Kavala, Rhodes, Kos, Skiathos, Mykonos, Santorini, Samos and Mytilene, with an option for Karpathos, Lemnos, Alexandroupolis, Araxos, Kalamata and Nea Aghialos. Amongst them are the airports of some of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, while last year Greek airports received some 19.2 million tourists in total. Until today, all Greek regional airports were state-owned, supervised by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (YPA). The privatization supporters highlight that almost all of them can increase their revenue and further support the local economies by possible better usage of their infrastructure as well as other commercial activities that are now under-developed. According to HRADF, their upgrading would enhance Greece’s profile as a world-class tourist destination. After their offer is accepted, investors will have 20 months to upgrade and renovate existing facilities while new works and extensions will be completed within a period of 48 months. Regarding airports with heavy military presence and usage, such as the ones in Chania, Crete, and Aktio, western Greece, private investors will run just the civil aviation part. Despite HRADF’s arguments regarding the airports’ future in the hands of corporations, there are still objections on the plan. On Saturday in Chania, citizens along with members of the local authorities demonstrated in the city’s airport expressing their disagreement with the privatization of such a profitable airport, as they said, that will only benefit the interests of corporate companies and not the local community.
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Eurobank goes from strength to strength as Greece fights back
At the height of the financial crisis, Greek banks faced the prospect of being nationalised. World Finance speaks to Dimosthenis Arhodidis, General Manager of Wealth Management at Eurobank, to find out how the bank escaped that fate and was able to make a ...
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How & Why Pumpkin Spice Rules The Food Industry
While food insiders insist the now-ubiquitous pumpkin spice (PS) trend is over, this favorite fall flavor still has some kick as Chobani recently reported that its Limited Batch Pumpkin Spice Greek Yogurt was its fastest growing SKU in the company’s history. Pumpkin-spice-flavored products grew 14.1% in US retail outlets measured by [...]
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Greek bazaar is a big, fat hit
SACO — Since September, many of the women at Saco's Greek Orthodox Church have been spending one day a week in the church kitchen cooking ...
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Traders eye developments with creditors
The last week of November began with minor losses for the Greek bourse’s benchmark as traders are anticipating developments regarding a pending review of the Greek program’s progress by the country’s creditors. With Fitch maintaining Greece’s ‘B’ credit r... ...
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Urgent Measures Needed to Create Jobs in Greece
Faced with an “anaemic” pace of job creation and nearly 1.3 million unemployed citizens, Greece risks a prolonged social crisis unless urgent measures are taken, warns a new report out today from the International Labour Organization (ILO). According to the report, entitled “Productive Jobs for Greece,” more than 70% of the almost 1.3 million unemployed people in the country have been jobless for more than a year, as a result of one in four jobs being lost since the beginning of the country’s economic crisis in 2008. Meanwhile, the number of Greeks at risk of poverty more than doubled in five years, rising from just above 20% in 2008 to upwards of 44% in 2013, the report found. “Greece is at a critical juncture and to set the country on a sustainable recovery path, urgent measures to support people and firms are needed,” ILO Director General Guy Ryder said in a press release. “Such measures should be defined in a tripartite setting, bringing together Government, employers and workers,” he added. ILO notes that Greece’s recovery strategy has been largely built on the premise that lower wages and fiscal consolidation would, on their own, restore competitiveness and boost economic growth. However, the report showed that a range of other issues – not wages – are the origin of the competitiveness problem. “The strategy so far, while it has helped restore public finances, has not achieved the expected results in terms of a sustainable economic and employment recovery,” said Raymond Torres, Director of ILO’s Research Department. In addition to the recent steps by the government to address the most acute social problems, the ILO report calls for a more comprehensive employment strategy with a range of measures to support job creation, tackle the crisis’ most pressing impacts, and put the economy on a sustainable track. The proposed emergency measures include an activation guarantee to all young jobseekers and groups most in need; nurturing of “social economy” enterprises as avenues for job creation; improved access to credit for small businesses; and a review of the pace and policy mix of fiscal consolidation that does not undermine recovery efforts. In the longer term, the study advocates broadening the economic base by facilitating expansion of sustainable enterprises, boosting links between tourism and agro-food, and fostering employment-enhancing investments. Other proposed measures include tackling undeclared work and working poverty through a broader tax base and improved incentives for low-paid work, while shifting the tax burden away from labor, small firms and basic needs consumption, towards other bases like property; enhancing human capital by designing skill programs in partnership with firms, workers and education providers; leveraging further apprenticeships and work-related experience for youth; and reinforcing public employment services and active labor market programs. “The proposed shift to a new growth and employment strategy is based on an analysis of best international practices adapted to the specific situation of Greece,” Ryder said. “A more comprehensive approach is possible. To make it a reality, ILO stands ready to cooperate with the Greek government, social partners and the European Commission, as key actors of an urgent job-rich recovery,” he added. (source: UN)
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Syrian Refugees in Greece Launch Hunger Strike for Asylum, Aid
ATHENS—More than 200 Syrian refugees launched a hunger strike in Athens Monday seeking asylum and medical assistance amid a growing influx of migrants from the war-torn country, weighing on Greece’s already stretched social services. In a peaceful ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT online.wsj.com |
Greek Scientist Sweeps International Awards
Dr. Christina Plainaki has been sweeping awards internationally for her great work in space research. The young scientist from Crete, Greece, received the Alexander Chizhevsky award at the 11th European Space Weather Week held in Liege, Belgium, from November 17 to 21. The award was given to Plainaki by the Scientific Academies of Russia, Norway and Belgium. Just a few months ago, the Greek scientist received the “Outstanding Young Scientist Award” for her contribution in the planetary physics and solar system fields. Plainaki, who works at the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (INAF-IAPS) in Rome, Italy, completed her PhD thesis “Solar cosmic ray physics using neutron monitor and satellite data” in 2007 at the University of Athens, where she also studied for her bachelor and postgraduate degrees. Later, she won a scholarship for postdoctoral research at INAF-IAPS, where she is now working as a temporary researcher.
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Greek toy retailer Jumbo to pay special dividend, profit up 11 pct
ATHENS Nov 24 (Reuters) - Greece's biggest toy retailer Jumbo on Monday posted a 11 percent rise in profit for its latest quarter and said it would pay ...
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30th Anniversary Since Thessaloniki-Melbourne Twinning
yiannis-boutaris People at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne were moved when Greek-Jewish Maria Curtis told the story about how she ...
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Expensive Athens Homes Lure Asians Who Want European Visa
With the upcoming bill that will give foreigners a renewable residency permit if they invest at least 250,000 euros in property, real estate agencies abroad try to lure investors and well-to-do individuals to buy property in Greece. In an effort to boost the economy and awaken the dormant real estate market, the Greek government will pass a new law that will facilitate those who want to travel freely in Europe. According to an article in South China Morning Post, Pantazis Therianos, who is a managing partner of London-based property developer Euroterra Capital, operates in Hong Kong and uses the visa aspect to sell property in Greece to Asian buyers. Therianos said that he recently sold five apartments in Athens to buyers from Hong Kong and one to a Singapore resident. The prices of the apartments ranged from 180,000 euros to 300,000. Among the five Hong Kong buyers were private bankers and a hedge-fund manager. Real estate prices are at the lowest now, presenting real bargains to investors or individuals. Potential buyers believe that they will not get any lower. For those who are interested in investing in real estate for the five-year visa alone, the Greek scheme is the cheapest way to travel freely throughout the 26 EU countries with open borders. It is also better than the ones Portugal and Spain are offering, Therianos said. Cyprus and Malta also have similar schemes. However, as of next year, the residency permit in Greece will extend to the investor’s parents, children up to 25 years old and in-laws, making it more alluring.
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Ancient Greek Myths As You've Never Seen Them Before
Finding the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell might feel like a Herculean task for a first-timer, but dig out your map app and you'll find it easily ...
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Amid 'anaemic' job creation, Greece risks prolonged social crisis – UN report
Greece's severe financial crisis has bred social unrest and intolerance of the nearly one million irregular migrants living in the country (October 2012).
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Greek Film to Be Presented at Toronto EU Film Festival
The Italian Cultural Institute director Adriana Frisenna and the Consul General of Greece in Toronto Alexandros Ioannidis participated in the 10th European Union Film Festival opening ceremony, on Saturday, November 15. The festival is scheduled to take ...
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Greek court jails German school hostage-taker for 20 years
Thessaloniki. A Greek court on Monday handed handed a 20-year prison sentence to a man who took hostages at a German school twice in three ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.focus-fen.net |
Greek food truck owner opens new permanent location in Kenmore
Sam Vasiliadis is taking the success of the Greek on the Street food truck and running with it, as the business has recently opened its permanent home ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.niagara-gazette.com |
Cañon City School District Superintendent runs in Greece marathon
Cañon City School District Superintendent Dr. Robin Gooldy ran in the 32nd annual "Athens Marathon - The Authentic" in Greece in early November.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.canoncitydailyrecord.com |
ILO Urges Urgent Greek Jobs Plan
The International Labor Organization said Greece's government needs an immediate plan to boost jobs during near-record joblessness. The post ILO Urges Urgent Greek Jobs Plan appeared first on The National Herald.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Greek Life cancels annual Greek Week
Students in the Greek community have become accustomed to fall Homecoming and spring Greek Week, but the schedule is a little different next spring. The decision to end Greek Week was passed down shortly after the deadline for committee position applications.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nwmissourinews.com |
New Report Available: Fast Food in Greece
Boston, MA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/24/2014 -- Fast food operations saw immense competition from other foodservice channels and from food specialist ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.digitaljournal.com |
Greece: some 200 Syrian refugees go on hunger strike
Attica Governor Rena Dourou said that she spoke to the head of the Church of Greece Ieronymos, Public Order Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Deputy ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ansamed.info |
Greece braces for €240b bailout audit
Among thorny issues is Greece's budget for 2015, which has failed to win the approval of the international creditors—who also include the ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.themalaymailonline.com |
Greece gears up for final bailout audit
Greek officials are gearing up for tough negotiations on Tuesday when they meet the country's international creditors in Paris for a final audit into reforms needed for a 240-billion-euro bailout.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com |
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