News archive of November 2018

The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) blasted the 2019 draft budget on Thursday as having "limited growth prospects," saying in its weekly bulletin that it lacks a business-friendly policy mix.

The Athens University of Economics and Business has bestowed its annual entrepreneurship award on Byron Nikolaidis, the president of the non-profit Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) and founder/president of PeopleCert.

Oversold bank stocks staged a remarkable rebound in Thursday's bourse session, with Alpha and National announcing a return to profit in July-September at the end of the trading day. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) was also buoyed by rallying international markets, the drop in Greek bond yields and a favorable report by Moody's on the Bank of Greece proposal for slashing bad loans.

Washington's support for ExxonMobil's drilling operations in Cyprus's exclusive economic zone was highlighted Thursday by a visit by Kathleen Doherty, the US ambassador in Nicosia, to Block 10, where the Stena IceMAX drillship is stationed.

As the political system debates the Greek economy's "day after," everyone needs to understand that the only way to help the country rebound, to attract foreign investment and to boost domestic enterprise is to improve the operation of the private sector by removing obstacles in the form of red tape and graft and easing the burdens of excessive taxes and social security contributions.

The phenomenon of Greek teenagers barricading themselves inside their schools on the pretext that they have various demands that are not being addressed by the authorities is being repeated this year.

The difference now, however, is that these protests appear to be becoming increasingly fraught with risk.

Heavy rainfall damaged homes and parts of the road network on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos Thursday, as a storm dubbed Penelope swept across the country, bringing downpours and gale-force winds.

Most of the problems on Lesvos were concentrated around the area of Gera on the southeastern coast and in the village of Plagia in the Plomari region.

After almost an 11-hour session, the Bulgarian parliament finally adopted the state budget for next year.
 
Two days were needed for MPs to approve the next year's estimates.
 
Once the budget was adopted, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov thanked MPs for the fact that the debate was strictly policy-oriented.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly canceled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin two days before they were scheduled to sit down on the sidelines of the G20 summit, reports CNN. 

The President pinned the cancellation on Russia's refusal to release Ukrainian Navy ships and sailors seized during a maritime confrontation between the two countries on Sunday.

Cyprus's Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis and Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday visited the Stena Icemax drillship along with US Ambassador to Cyprus Kathleen A. Doherty and ExxonMobil Vice Chairman Tristan Asprey.