Supermarkets oppose longer opening hours

It appears uncertain whether the extension of supermarket opening hours would go ahead on Friday after postponements due to reactions by the chains.

Although the longer hours - from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. - were originally supposed to start on Wednesday, their introduction has now been put off until Friday, and Sunday openings for the next month remain to be seen.

Although supermarkets were originally told they would have to open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every Sunday until Easter, on Wednesday Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis told the supermarkets to open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. He added that it may only be this Sunday that they would open, as consumer flows have reverted to normal.

The sector's enterprises are citing this normalization in the market, after shelves were stripped last Friday and Saturday, as they voice their opposition, as well as the...