How the world sees Greece
Greece's creditors in the 19-country eurozone will hold a teleconference Tuesday to give their verdict on a list of reform measures Athens has sent in order to get a 4-month extension to its bailout, which would keep the country afloat and prevent a ...
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The U.S. stock market is back at a record high as traders are encouraged by the latest news on interest rates, Greece and corporate earnings.
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The decision by the eurogroup of finance ministers to approve a list of reforms submitted by Greece brings to a close weeks of wrangling between the Syriza-led government and its international creditors. But it also opens a new chapter in the Greek bailout.
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Organizers of Greece's top-flight league say an executive meeting has been broken up after officials from rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos fought. The post Greek Soccer League Meeting Brawl appeared first on The National Herald.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday asked her conservative party to back a proposed bailout extension to Greece in a parliament vote this week, said a lawmaker at the meeting.
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Parliament Speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou revealed plans on Tuesday to set up committees to audit Greece’s public debt and to examine the country’s claims to Second World War reparations from Germany.
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As Greece's new government fights to turn the page on harsh austerity measures, it’s receiving support from an unexpected source -- Will Butler of indie rock band Arcade Fire.
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with composer and political activist Mikis Theodorakis (photo) in Athens on Tuesday in the wake of the latter’s comments on Sunday urging the leftist leader to turn down austerity demands by the country’s foreign lenders.
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday postponed for a second time the hearing of an appeal by the Finance Ministry with regard to a First Instance Court ruling instructing the ministry to rehire a group of 393 cleaners placed in a civil service mobility scheme in 2013.
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AP2, the Swedish state pension fund managing $35 billion in assets, says any disturbances caused by Greece won’t be enough to undermine the support European stocks will get from extreme central bank stimulus.
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Police investigating the violent murder of the warden of maximum-security Domokos Prison in central Greece on Saturday are focusing on the jail itself, Kathimerini understands, as it appears likely that the hit was ordered by a member of the criminal underworld serving time in the institution.
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Greek authorities are conducting a wide search through the city of Ioannina and the surrounding regions in northern Greece looking for 20-year-old Dairy School student Vangelis Giakoumakis who went missing on February 6. Giorgos Tsoukalis, a private investigator who has taken up the case at the family’s request, stated that any information regarding the case is being thoroughly investigated. According to police reports, Giakoumakis lived in the school dorms. On February 6, he went missing but the investigation revealed that he had left his wallet and mobile phone behind. Since then, Greek authorities, in collaboration with PI Tsoukalis, have been trying to track the young man. Several people reported that Giakoumakis had been seen in Athens’ metro stations, however none of it has proven useful. Meanwhile, a number of people have reported shocking bullying incidents, in which the 20-year-old student from Crete was the victim. He was targeted by a group of older students who also originated from Crete and were studying in Ioannina. According to another student’s police statement, they would lock Giakoumakis in a closet and slip coins inside requesting songs, just like a jukebox. The horrifying incident occurred multiple times. Greek journalist Angeliki Nikolouli, host of TV show “Light in the Tunnel” that investigates missing persons, invited a young girl who reported that the group of Cretan students has also bullied Giakoumakis outside the dorms. For instance, she was present when the group hid Giakoumakis’ coffee while at a café. When he begged them to give it back, they just laughed at him. In the end, they threw a glass of water at him, completely indifferent for the people watching. The students accused of attacking Giakoumakis are denying the accusations, saying that the incidents were a form of hazing. Investigations to trace Giakoumakis’ steps are still ongoing and police are requesting anyone who might have information regarding his disappearance to contact the Greek authorities.
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A “constructive” debate centered on the list of reforms the Greek government had earlier sent to the country’s loan partners -who approved it- was conducted earlier by the Government Council, according to SYRIZA sources. During the discussion though, there were certain reservations expressed, while according to other sources, Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis expressed his objections on the reforms program. Earlier, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis briefed the Government Council members on the negotiations and the drawing up of the list. As leaked, some of the Ministers asked for clarifications, while the discussion focused on the immediate government priorities and the legislative work that will follow. The government will wait for the agreement to be approved by the European Union member-states’ national parliaments and then decide on the procedure to be adopted by the Greek Parliament, an unnamed Greek source explained. Moreover, the SYRIZA Parliamentary Group met at 8:00 pm under Prime Minister Tsipras in order to discuss the new extended loan agreement and the e-mail Varoufakis sent to his counterparts and the creditors’ institutions. Several Ministers raised clarifying questions to both Tsipras and Varoufakis, while the discussion was wide-ranging and varied views were exchanged regarding the government’s priorities in the coming period and the legislative work that follows. The conclusion drawn is that the Greek government will be able to meet the so-called “Thessaloniki program” and at the same time implement the agreements with its loan partners.
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Greek stocks soared to new 2015 highs in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) on Tuesday, moving in line with the domestic bonds market, in the aftermath of an agreement between Greece and its creditors on Friday, and the approval of a reform list and a four-month extension of the Greek program by a Eurogroup teleconference meeting today. The market’s composite index surpassed the 900-point level to reach 937.96 points, up 9.81%. The index is up 13.53% so far this year. The Large Cap index jumped 10.92% and the Mid Cap index ended 8.43% higher. Turnover was a heavy 253.30 million euros. All blue chip stocks ended higher, with Piraeus Bank (19.97%), Alpha Bank (17.03%), National Bank of Greece (16.67%), MIG (16.22%), Eurobank (16.0%), OTE (15.98%) and GEK Terna (14.29%) scoring the day’s biggest percentage gains. All market sectors moved higher, with Banks (17.25%), Telecoms (15.98%), Real Estate (12.91%) and Utilities (12.33%) scoring the biggest gains. Broadly, advancers led decliners by 116 to 25 with another 11 unchanged. Piraeus Bank (19.97%), Lamda Development (17.91%) and Alpha Bank (17.03%) were the top gainers, while MIG Real Estate (20%), Epsilon (19.44%) and Attikat (18.75%) were the top losers. (source: ana-mpa)
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Main opposition New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras on Tuesday lashed out at the government accusing it of “leading the country further back compared to where it was last November,” referring to Greece’s reform list presented to the country’s loan partners. Samaras underlined that “today with (Finance Minister Yanis) Varoufakis‘ proposal, the government has accepted (former Finance Minister Gikas) Hardouvelis’ email” after agreeing to the Memorandum extension and the sustainability of the Greek debt. He said that with Hardouvelis’ email Greece was exiting the Memorandum era, noting that “Varoufakis’ email was submitted to the Troika – ‘the institutions’ – for approval so that the final Memorandum review could be completed and constitute a ‘bridge’ for a new Memorandum that is now called a ‘contract’.” Samaras said that the New Democracy-led government was moving toward the exit from the Memorandum with the help of a precautionary credit line to be able to return to the markets and not need a new Memorandum. He said that two months of election uncertainty and a month of “virtual negotiation” were wasted for the country to go further back compared to where it was last November. “We met with SYRIZA at the Memorandum exit: we were getting out and they were rushing in,” the New Democracy leader said. (source: ana-mpa)
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has achieved a lot using his charisma. He won the election, he formed a government immediately and got to work right away. He even managed to get behind him people who haven’t voted for him, or wouldn’t even think of voting for him. In less than a month, he has the majority of Greeks rooting for the negotiating team struggling to get Europe to agree with his government’s proposals. He even got the silent approval and support of opposition party members. Who would have thought then, that the first guns pointed at him were not from the opposition but from inside the SYRIZA ranks. The sharp criticism Tsipras has received from prominent figures of the Greek Left like Manolis Glezos and Mikis Theodorakis after Friday’s deal with Greece’s creditors has shaken the party. A few SYRIZA MPs followed and criticized the party leader for his stance. SYRIZA’s emblematic MEP Manolis Glezos was the first to fire at him by stating he apologizes to the Greek people for contributing to the illusion that the Troika will be kicked out, the Memorandum will be torn to pieces and austerity measures will be abolished. Far worse, he asked for SYRIZA voters to protest and take action against the government stance. And the language that he used belongs to student manifestos and not to an experienced politician. For example, calling Greece “the oppressed” and Europe “the oppressor” sounds immature at least. It is true that Tsipras did not keep all his election campaign promises for the simple reason that if he had done so, Greece would have been out of the Eurozone by now, isolated and strapped for much-needed cash. However, one of his promises was to keep Greece in the common currency bloc, something that swayed more voters his way and secured the SYRIZA victory. So, no one can blame him that he didn’t keep this one. There was an ambivalence in people’s expectations and SYRIZA’s pre-election pledges: you couldn’t “tear up the hated Memorandum” and remain in the Eurozone because, simply, the Memorandum was a condition to stay in the Eurozone. In other words, you can’t default on your payments and at the same time ask for more loans. Also, you cannot ask for financial aid without any obligations. You cannot ask for solidarity when you say to those who lent you that you refuse to pay them back, especially when you proclaim that you fight for the good of all Europe. Tsipras has learned a lot of valuable lessons during the first three weeks of his administration. The Eurogroup negotiations was a crash course in reality for him. The compromises he made – and they were many – were indeed for the good of the Greek people. By managing to replace the word “Troika” with “institutions” or “Memorandum” with “agreement” has boosted the pride of Greek people, and this is no small feat. Tsipras has shown great maturity in the last few days. He silently admitted to himself that the cash register is empty and no leftist rhetoric can fill it. He measured the pros and cons of a head-on collision with Europe and did the sensible thing: to sharply turn the wheel. If there was ever a dilemma for him whether he should satisfy the majority of Greek people who want to remain in the Eurozone or SYRIZA‘s radical left platform who would prefer to see Greece isolated, he chose to do the right thing. As for his left-side critics, the marxist fantasies may still ring in their ears after the election but they don’t have a solid, realistic proposal as for what line the new government should follow. Until they do, they should leave Tsipras alone to do the job.
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The list of measures presented by the Greek authorities “is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review, as called for by the Europroup at its last meeting. But a determination in this regard should of course rest primarily on an assessment by member-states themselves and by the relevant European institutions,” International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a letter sent to Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Lagarde stressed that “while the authorities’ list is comprehensive, it is generally not very specific, which is perhaps to be expected considering that the government is new in office. In some areas, like combating tax evasion and corruption, I am encouraged with what appears to be a stronger resolve on the part of the new authorities in Athens and we look forward to learn more about their plans. In quite a few areas, however, including perhaps the most important ones, the letter is not conveying clear assurances that the government intends to undertake the reforms envisaged in the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies.” Lagarde added: “We note in particular that there are neither clear commitments to design and implement the envisaged comprehensive pension and VAT policy reforms, nor unequivocal undertakings to continue already-agreed policies for opening up closed sectors, for administrative reforms, for privatization and for labor market reforms. As you know, we consider such commitments and undertakings to be critical for Greece’s ability to meet the basic objectives of its Fund-supported program, which is why these are the areas subject to most of the structural benchmarks agreed with the Fund. Thus, it is important for me to emphasize that for the discussions on a completion of the review to be successful, they cannot be confined within the policy perimeters outlined in the government’s list.” “My staff and I look forward to working with the new government on finding common ground, with the aim of concluding the 6th review of the Fund-supported program as soon as possible,” Lagarde concluded in the letter. (source: ana-mpa)
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Greek authorities have started evacuating the Amygdaleza migrant detention center last Friday, saying they have released 100 migrants by Tuesday, while 980 remain in the premises. Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Giannis Panousis had pledged to close down the Amygdaleza facility within 100 days, citing inhumane living conditions, following the suicide of a Pakistani national. A police official said the plan is to release asylum seekers first, once their files have been studied, and continue with underage migrants and other vulnerable groups, as well as those who have already been detained for six months. The main problem for Greek authorities is to find a suitable open hospitality center to accommodate children and they have been in contact with other bodies to find a solution. Police also said that those migrants held for criminal offenses or are awaiting deportation will not be released. (source: ana-mpa)
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The risk of Greece crashing out of the European single currency was alleviated today, as the struggling country’s economic reform proposals were given guarded approval by its European creditors.
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As with many things Greek right now, the logistics and risks of investing directly in Greek real estate might be a bit much to undertake for even the most sophisticated U.S.-based investors. However, one ...
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Finance ministers from the currency bloc approved a proposal from Athens aimed at easing the hardships created by an international bailout, extending the program by four months.
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The board of directors meeting of the Greek Super League Tuesday ended abruptly when a shouting match between the presidents of Olympiakos and Panathinaikos ended in an altercation. "There is no reason to hide that an incident happened and that is why I interrupted the meeting," said Super League president Giorgos Borovilos. Panathinaikos president Giannis Alafouzos told the media after the ...
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They intended to wipe out the Greek left policy example which shows an alternative way across Europe – It is impossible to impose 100% of your positions in a negotiation
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked her conservative Christian Democratic Union to support the proposed extension of Greece’s bailout programme in a parliament vote this week, AFP reported on Tuesday. The eurozone finance ministers earlier in the day approved a four-month extension of the financial rescue programme for Greece after Athens issued a list of reform proposals. But Merkel also warned that the "task is by no means done" and said talks with the new Greek left-wing government would continue, AFP said. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said: “We want to continue to help Greece, but the condition for this is the continuation of the reform programme." Parliaments in several eurozone member states including Germany must now vote on the bailout extension before Greece's current funding programme expires on Saturday. With many details of the deal still remaining to be hammered out, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici commented the eurozone has avoided a crisis “but there are many challenges ahead."
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Two of Greece’s main lenders, managing director of International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, and President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, raised some objections and reservations to Greek Reforms List. Similar concerns were expressed by the 18 finance Ministers at the Eurogroup teleconference on Tuesday afternoon. “We call on […]
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Greece's creditors agreed Tuesday to accept its list of promised reforms and belt-tightening in exchange for a four-month extension of its bailout program in a move that should keep funds flowing to the cash-strapped country.
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Once again the spotlight is shining on Greece. The world is watching with anticipation to see who will win the standoff in Europe, David or Goliath? I too, am waiting with bated breath. There is no doubt that the financial crisis and austerity measures are crippling Greece. Anyone can see it simply by walking around Athens. But, I believe there is still much promise within Greece. After all, the Greeks built the Acropolis, gave birth to modern medicine, created democracy, and philosophy. If anyone can find a way out of this crisis, isn't it the Greeks? With this thought (and hope) in mind, I set out to find some Greeks who were taking the financial crisis and using it as a way to innovate. What I discovered surprised me, and gave me hope. While the Greek economy is in the doldrums, many new startups have emerged within Greece; as the people look for ways to take their future back into their own hands. In fact, the number of startups in Greece has grown nearly tenfold between 2010 and 2013, from a mere 16 to 144. Investments in startups have risen as well, from 500,000 euros to 42 million euros, over the same timeframe. All sorts of new companies are slowly beginning to flourish within Greece. I can tell you firsthand of several success stories that I've encountered during my time in Greece. One success story is that of Vasilis Douros. He started a soap making business in Tripoli back in 2012, called Snob Duck. It started for Vasili as a project born out of curiosity. He knew that Greeks used to make their own soaps on a regular basis. The French may have built a name for themselves as soap makers, but the Greeks have been making soaps since 2800 B.C. France took on the art of soap making in around the 13th century. I'll let you do the math. But suffice it to say, once again the Greeks were way ahead of the curve! Vasili's family has a small olive grove, which gave him access to the key ingredient he needed, olive oil. "It took 9 months of experimenting," Vasili recently told me. "I would experiment with different aromas I liked, and various recipes. In the beginning I sometimes had to throw the results away. But after a while I knew the soaps were good. I was ready to start selling." His story of soap making reminded me of my own trial and error recipe testing in the kitchen. People see the end results of a Sweet & Skinny recipe. They don't realize how many times I had to make that recipe, in order to get it just right! Fast forward several years, Vasili is now making about 2,000 bars of soap per month. He sells his soaps throughout Greece, as well as in the US, including in San Francisco! This is how I first heard of "the duck." When I saw Vasili's soaps, with flavors like chocolate, Greek orange, and poppy seed (can I say flavors with soaps? I know they aren't edible, but his really should be!), I knew I had to meet this guy! I wanted to know his story. I wanted to focus on some of the positive things that are happening in Greece right now. When I asked Vasili how Greece's current situation had shaped his decision to start a soap company, he made it clear that for him, the financial crisis didn't make him feel like he had no other option. "I guess I'm more of a romantic," he said. "I started something that derived from my curiosity. I wasn't paying attention to what was missing from the markets. It's not about trying to find something fast and profitable. My heart spoke. I loved it. I was addicted." Although I adore his answer, I'd still like to think that he might not have had the time to explore his creative side if the economy had been different. Perhaps he would have been too busy, chained to a desk somewhere, working for a company? There are numerous stories like Vasili's emerging from Greece. George Drepanos is another success story. He owns Greek Green Goji, an organic goji berry farm focusing on green farming practices. He left Athens a few years ago, after work began to slow down with audio-visual entertainment companies. He now lives in beautiful Lakonia, and started his own organic goji berry farm, GGGoji. His farm produces both fresh and dried goji berries. Between the Mediterranean sunshine, and careful means by which he grows and harvests the berries (handpicked, with gloved hands, to prevent damaging the berries) they are without a doubt the best goji berries I have ever tasted! Clearly I'm not the only one who thinks this, as GGGoji is now selling online throughout Greece, and to countries around the world. "We are definitely expanding," George happily told me. So yes, Greece is going through a major crisis. But Greece still has so much potential! I have this theory about what Greece needs right now more than anything. Perhaps on the surface it will sound somewhat naïve. I am by no means an expert. I know that when politics is involved, the answers are seldom simple. But I think of the ancient Greeks, and the ability they must have had to work as a team. The Parthenon had three architects working together, a sculptor, hundreds of artisans, painters, and metal workers. It certainly wasn't built by a few people saying "let's just do this on our own!" On a smaller scale, it's the same in a professional kitchen. Without your line cooks, prep cooks, expediter, dish washers, and servers, all working together in harmony, your kitchen falls apart. When it does fall apart, we in the restaurant industry call it, being "in the weeds." And trust me, once you've been in the weeds, you don't ever want to go there again! There is simply greater power in numbers. I was recently talking to a Greek who told me a fascinating fact. The word idiot comes from the Greek word ιδιώτης (idiotes). In ancient Greece the word idiot was used to describe an individual. This "idiot" was someone who was trying to do it all alone instead of working as a group. On a large scale this means Europe working together as a whole. But on a smaller scale this also means Greeks, and people of Greek descent, all working together too. I know this is a concept Greg Pappas is a firm believer in. Greg is the founder of The Greek American Foundation, and a great supporter of Greece. As Greg recently said, "Greeks supporting their fellow Greeks is music to my ears." So I wonder, what would happen to Greece (and Europe) if everyone worked together? I wonder what would happen if every Greek, and every person of Greek origin, banned together at this moment in history and did something to help the greater good? I see bits of it slowly happening. Without investors putting money into startups, these young and innovative Greeks wouldn't get the funding they need to follow their dreams. Without his parents' olive grove, Vasili might not have had the olive oil he needed to start his soap company. These are small examples when you compare them to the economic scale of finance in Greece. But like a drop falling into a pool of water, they have a ripple effect. They expand........and have the potential to reach farther than you ever imagined! For more information about project funding and support in Greece you can visit the following websites Endeavor Greece Startup Greece
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"Greece in my mind is part of the international grid and if you want to remain in the grid then ultimately you have to conform," Larry Fink, CEO of ...
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Madrid (AFP) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy defended his record during a key debate in parliament on Tuesday ahead of a series of elections in which the anti-austerity Podemos party is tipped for strong gains.Rajoy used the annual state of the nation debate to credit the belt-tightening measures put in place by his conservative government since December 2011 with bringing down Spain's borrowing costs, avoiding a bailout and reviving the economy."We have achieved what many believed was impossible," Rajoy said."It is not with demagoguery that we can maintain the welfare state," he added, alluding to the anti-establishment Podemos, a close ally of Greece's governing Syriza party, which is leading polls ahead of general elections expected later this year.The Spanish economy grew by 1.4 percent in 2014, the first full year of economic growth since a 2008 property crash which put millions of people out of work and pushed the country to the brink of a bailout.Rajoy revised his government's growth forecast for this year upwards to 2.4 percent from 2.0 percent and said the country could create over half a million jobs in 2015."The greatest social policy of this government was avoiding the bailout," he said. Spain did not receive a full bailout like Portugal, Greece and Ireland, but received 41.4 billion euros ($47 billion) from international creditors in 2012 to prevent its banking sector from collapsing.While the unemployment rate has started to fall, it stood at 23.7 percent at the end of 2014, the second-highest rate in the eurozone after Greece.It was Rajoy's last state of the nation debate before a string of polls that start in March with a regional vote in Andalucia, Spain's largest region, and culminate in parliamentary elections at the end of the year.The leader of the main opposition Socialists, Pedro Sanchez, said the prime minister had painted a rosy picture of the economy which did not reflect reality."There has never been as much precariousness as today. You have allowed what was a nightmare before the crisis, earning a thousand euros a month, to become an unattainable dream for thousands of Spaniards," he said.- 'End of bipartisanship' -Rajoy's Popular Party and the Socialists have alternately ruled Spain since the country returned to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.But they now face a stiff challenge from Podemos, which was founded just a year ago on a promise to fight corruption and protect public services which suffered huge cuts under Rajoy. Polls show the party coming first or second in the general election, with over 20 percent support.Surveys also show that Ciudadanos, a centre-right party which campaigns on a theme of national unity and also rails against corruption and high unemployment, is rapidly gaining ground.The party, which only ran candidates in the northeastern region of Catalonia during the last general election, is credited with around 12.0 percent support nationwide.Neither Podemos nor Ciudadanos have any seats in parliament at present but are expected to prevent either of Spain's two mainstream parties from obtaining an absolute majority in the next election."All polls indicate that the Spanish political system will change in the next general election and they will end bipartisanship," Jose Pablo Ferrandiz, a sociologist who heads the polling firm Metroscopia told AFP.Andalucia will vote in a regional election on March 22, with local and regional elections in the rest of the country slated for May 22. No date has yet been set for the general election, which is expected at the end of 2015.During the parliamentary debate Rajoy announced a series of measures aimed at middle class voters.Among them was a change in the law allowing people to have their debts wiped in exchange for the seizure of their assets -- a facility that is not widely available at present.Join the conversation about this story »
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Press Release The Stavros Niarchos Foundation announces the results of Deloitte’s analysis of the Initiative against the Greek Crisis, a three-year, $130 million (€100 million) grant program funded by the Foundation, announced in early 2012, in order to help alleviate the adverse effects of the socioeconomic crisis in Greece. The report analyzed the grants […] The post Deloitte Reports on Stavros Niarchos Foundation Grants for Greek Crisis appeared first on The National Herald.
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Pledges bear striking resemblance to those made by previous finance ministers
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BRUSSELS (AP) — Greece cleared a major hurdle Tuesday in its ongoing battle to remain solvent as its European creditors approved a 4-month extension to its financial bailout — but the cash-strapped country has much more to do to convince its partners that it deserves longer-term help beyond the summer.
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Pressure still on Greece despite reform deal
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European stocks extended a seven-year high as Greece reached a bailout deal and the Federal Reserve pledged patience on raising interest rates. Greek shares surged.
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Finance ministers from the 19 countries sharing the single European currency reviewed the Greek government's planned economies and reforms and ...
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The announcement will stave off the immediate threat of Greek banks running out of cash — a development that could have pushed Athens into ...
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The Eurogroup’s decision to extend Greece’s bailout agreement for another four months sent the local bourse benchmark soaring almost 10 percent on Tuesday to reach a two-and-a-half-month high on very high turnover.
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by Associated Press Brawl breaks up Greek league meeting Associated Press - 24 February 2015 13:20-05:00 ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Organizers of Greece's top-flight league say an executive meeting has been broken up after officials from rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos were involved in a brawl. The officials said Tuesday's meeting was called off following the incident. Panathinaikos official Vassilis Constantinou, a former national team goalkeeper, walked out of the meeting holding his lower lip, and told reporters he had been punched by an Olympiakos security guard. Olympiakos made no immediate comment. The incident followed violence at a weekend game between the two clubs, when Panathinaikos fans hurled flares, rocks and bottles at Olympiakos officials. Panathinaikos won the match 2-1 to close the gap with leader Olympiakos to three points. News Topics: Sports, Violence in sports, Men's soccer, Soccer, Violence, Social issues, Social affairs, Men's sports People, Places and Companies: Greece, Western Europe, Europe Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday asked her conservative party to back a proposed bailout extension to Greece in a parliament vote this week, said a lawmaker at the meeting.
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Greece has gained a "few weeks" breathing space after eurozone finance ministers approved a list of proposed reforms needed to extend the country's financial lifeline, the finance ministry said Tuesday.
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The Greek banks’ deposits outflow during last week -and before Friday’s Eurogroup deal on the loan agreement four-month extension reached between the Eurozone’s Finance Ministers and their Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis- amounted to a total of 3 billion euros, according to estimates published by the American investment banking institution JP Morgan. As the institution indicated, the Greek deposits outflow was increased by 50%, from 2 billion euros in the previous week, indicating that the country’s banks would be left without adequate reserves to issue new loans within just a period of eight weeks, instead of 14 as it was initially assessed. JP Morgan estimated that from a sum of 108 billion euros, the Greek banks received as aid from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Greece (BoG), they have already used some 85 billion euros, thus they are left with about 23 billion. As the institution explained, the Greek deposits outflow vastly increased toward the end of last week and, according to banking officials cited by Reuters, the outgoing deposits totaled 1 billion euros on Wednesday and Thursday and another 1 billion on Friday. It should be noted that the total outflow of Greek deposits from the beginning of the year reached about 25 billion euros, or 3 billion euros per week.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
… statement, the 19-nation Eurogroup urged Greece to develop and broaden the … planned tax crackdown would generate. Greek financial markets, which reopened for … IMF inspectors. The letter said Greece would phase in collective bargaining …
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT world.einnews.com |
Investors pushed the FTSE 100 to new heights after tensions eased in the eurozone following the move by the European parliament to give Greece a ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
One of the reasons the world’s wealthy love investing in New York City real estate is because of the anonymity. Thanks to secretive limited liability companies (LLCs) and trusts, it’s complicated to know exactly who lives where. The New York Times ran an in-depth investigation into the influx of foreign wealth into NYC’s real estate market. They focused on Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center, a tall luxury building with 192 condos, nearly 66% of which are owned by secretive entities. Sifting through over 200 apartment records, The Times reporters identified some of the most notorious people to ever purchase condos in Time Warner Center. Learn more about them. Andrey Vavilov bought a $37.5 million condo in Time Warner Center in 2009. The former Russian senator and businessman has been tied to a series of crooked deals, including government kickbacks, and accused of masterminding a “media blitz…involving a longtime adversary” and starting programs that accrued him (and his friends) a massive amount of wealth during the foundering first years of the Russian Federation, according to the Times. Jho Low bought a penthouse formerly owned by Beyoncé and Jay Z for $30.55 million (in cash) at the Time Warner Center. He is well-known in the Hollywood and New York nightlife scenes and is close to the nephew of Malaysia’s prime minister — a politician who has long dodged claims of corruption. Where Low gets his funds is a mystery, but Gawker once called him a "big-spending party boy." Kabul Chawla is the likely owner a $19.4 million, 4,050-square-foot condo with five bedrooms in the Time Warner Center, according to The Times. A New Delhi developer, Chawla is accused of pre-selling homes to residents and failing to finish them. Of the homes his company does finish, many are allegedly shoddily done. José Murat Casab owns two condos that he bought for $5.44 million in the Time Warner Center through the shell company Nivea Management, according to The Times. He is the former governor of Oaxaca and a well-connected, controversial Mexican politician who is rumored to have staged an assassination attempt on his own life to gain public favor. Vitaly Malkin reportedly owns a $15.65 million condo in the Time Warner Center through an LLC. He’s a Russian-Israeli businessman and politician who was denied entry into Canada by the Canadian government due to money laundering and international arms deals allegations (accusations his lawyer vehemently denies). Dimitrios Contominas owned a condo on the 74th floor of the Time Warner Center until he sold it for $21.4 million 2014. He’s the owner of one of Greece’s biggest TV stations and is a well-known businessman who was arrested on fraud and corruption charges last year. Wang Wenliang’s shell company Columbus Skyline LLC owns three condos in Time Warner Center. The Chinese businessman and contractor owns a construction company that was accused of “housing workers in New Jersey in hazardous, unsanitary conditions,” according to The Times reporters. Alexander Varshavsky paid cash for a condo in the Time Warner Center. Varshavsky is now a US citizen and owns car dealerships in Russia. He was “charged with failing to report the existence of a foreign bank account,” according to The Times, and was surveilled for a time by federal agents. Anil Agarwal owns not one but two condos in Time Warner Center through the shell company Amanita Corporation. He’s an Indian business magnate who has been fined for dumping chemical waste, poisoning nearby communities as well the environment in both India as well as Zambia. Former Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar bin Sultan and his wife (and daughter of a former Saudi king) Princess Haifa bint Faisal were also tied to a Time Warner Center unit. Princess Haifa was accused in certain press outlets of funding the 9/11 hijackers, though no evidence was found by the United States Commission that linked back to her. James Nicholson owned an $8.5 million Time Warner condo until it was frozen by law enforcement. He was charged with stealing more than $100 million from investors in one of the worst Ponzi Schemes in American history. He is currently in jail. Pablo Ardila bought a $4 million condo in Time Warner Center back in 2004. According to The Times, the former Colombian official sold it after being arrested for “enriching himself illicitly.” He was released in Colombia without being convicted. Stewart Ford bought a $6 million condo in the building before eventually transferring it to a shell company, according to the Times report. His firm was under investigation for fraud at the time and was “at the center of one of the biggest finial collapses in Britain with an estimated 30,000 victims,” the reporters wrote. Read the full, 8,000-word New York Times investigation here. Click her for a round up of the New York Times profiles on shady foreign investors.DON'T FORGET: Follow Business Insider's Life on Facebook! Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.businessinsider.com |
Greece's creditors have approved a list of economic reforms drafted by the country's new government, allowing for a four-month extension of its financial lifeline.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT ri.search.yahoo.com |
The Athens Stock Exchange rallied Tuesday on news that Greece agreed with its creditors on an outline reforms program. The general index closed at 937.96 points, a best for 2015 and a 9.81% gain. Turnover was high, at €253.3 million. ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
IMF head Christine Lagarde points out to Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem her reviews on Varoufakis list
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Greece's international lenders have made it clear that Athens' most recent reform commitments are not concrete enough to go unchanged. But they have accepted them as a starting point for more talks to come.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dw.de |
Greek government is on track to receive loan extension, easing fears of eurozone exit
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.cbsnews.com |
The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, told the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers in a letter that Greece's proposed list of reforms offered a valid starting point for ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |