Public Power Corporation

Extreme weather phenomena have left disaster in their wake, with tornadoes, heavy rains and winds uprooting trees and causing floods throughout the country. A tornado hit the area of Lehena and Vartholomio causing many cars to overturn and many trees to be uprooted. The road network is closed. The tornado left nothing but destruction, when it hit the area from Vartholomio up until Lehena.

Having spent all day in the red, the benchmark of the Greek bourse received a late boost during the closing auctions on Tuesday, particularly from the stocks of OTE and OPAP, to finish the session marginally in the green, albeit with very thin trading volume.

Police on Tuesday were searching for a taverna owner who allegedly opened fire on Monday at a van of Public Power Corporation (PPC), which had been sent to cut off the power supply because of unpaid bills.

Reports said that there were two technicians in the van when it came under fire.

Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis caused a stir on Thursday as he claimed that the privatization projects included in the government's official list involving state energy companies Hellenic Petroleum, Public Power Corporation and Public Gas Corporation may not be implemented after all.

Customers of the state-owned Public Power Corporation who have been conscientious about paying their bills on time will be awarded a discount of 15 percent on their bills as of July 1, PPC President Manolis Panagiotakis told Parliament on Tuesday.

Panagiotakis said the measure, aimed at encouraging prompt payment, will apply for household as well as corporate customers.

The sectors of industry and power production were satisfied on Thursday with the reduction of the special consumption tax on natural gas for industrial use and the complete abolition of the fuel's use for electricity production, according to the multi-bill expected to pass into law this Sunday.

Greek stocks had something of a rocky session at the start of the week as the morning satisfaction following the vote in Parliament on the key tax and social security bills was succeeded by concerns over the outcome of Monday's Eurogroup. The positive signs from the Euro Working Group meeting eventually led to some gains for most stocks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is arriving in Greece on May 28, with the main subject topping his agenda being the promotion of a new conduit for the transmission of Russian natural gas via Bulgaria and Greece, including the utilization of the plan for the Interconnector Greece-Italy (IGI) pipeline.

Negotiations between the Energy Ministry and the representatives of the country's creditors made significant progress this week with the drafting of a particularly tight timetable that foresees the completion of a complicated plan for splitting the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) from Public Power Corporation (PPC).

Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis told Greek newspaper Agora that the agreement for Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) has closed and its implementation is underway. He said that the deal clearly states that the Public Power Corporation is to be compensated.