Latest News from Greece

VAT adjustment is the way forward

 Restructuring of consumption taxation will not affect labor balance and lead to a reduction of imports

By Dimitris Kontogiannis

Varoufakis slams media over Riga Eurogroup reporting

By George Georgiopoulos

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Sunday admitted he had recorded a euro zone finance ministers meeting and criticised media for reporting «lies and innuendos» on what transpired at that April 24 Eurogroup gathering.

Banks fear NPL sum will reach 100 bln euros

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

Greek banks are facing the specter of nonperforming loans climbing to 100 billion euros ? or 45 percent of all loans issued ? in the coming months owing to the seemingly endless uncertainty in the local economy.

Socar has found a way to opt out of the DESFA deal

By Chryssa Liaggou

A new obstacle has emerged in the arduous process of privatizing gas transmission network operator DESFA, as Azeri firm Socar has found a way to disengage itself from the sale, following the government?s recent energy overture to Russia with the Turkish Stream pipeline.

FT, NYTimes, Greenspan and Buffett — All on the ‘Greek issue’

For FT’s Wolfgang Münchau’s the “fate of Greece” lies with leftist PM Alexis Tsipras, whereas for freelance columnist Hugh Dixon, the “Greek Deal” lies with the “people”, obviously the Greek people, in this case.

Opposition party leaders rev up criticism against Tsipras, SYRIZA

Opposition party leaders in Greece heaped more criticism on the ruling radical leftist SYRIZA government over the weekend, as the latter was holding a “soul-searching” central committee meeting with opinions vacillating between “pain compromises” with creditors, to uncompromising “rift”.

‘Beautiful Mind’ John Nash, 86, dead in car accident

Game theory pioneer and Nobel Prize laureate John Nash, 86, whose life, works and painful struggle with schizophrenia formed the basis of the Academy Award-winning movie “A Beautiful Mind”, died on Saturday in a car accident in New Jersey.
Nash perished along with his wife Alicia, in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Yanis admits to taping Eurogroup session … but only his comments!

Strange and getting stranger … Controversial and increasingly embattled Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis took to his blog on Sunday to confirm that he taped portions of an April 24 Eurogroup meeting, an assertion that first emerged last week in an article in the NYTimes’ magazine.

Fire-walkers of Northern Greece!

An ancient rite involving … fire-walking was again celebrated last week in a handful of villages οφ northern Greece.
Considered by some as a pagan custom carried into the Christian era, the fire-walking commemoration is held every May 21, which coincides with the feast day of Sts. Constantine and Helen.

Greece issues fresh warning on IMF payment in June

A Greek government minister said on May 24 that Athens will be unable to repay the IMF on schedule next month, reiterating previous warnings by officials during tense talks with the country's creditors.     

"The instalment to the IMF won't be paid," Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis told Mega TV.

Greeks back government's red lines, but want to keep euro

Cash-strapped Greeks remain supportive of the leftist government's tough negotiating style, according to a new poll published Sunday, but hope for a deal with creditors that will keep the euro in their wallets.

SYRIZA campaign pledges fade amid tough negotiation with creditors

The four-month anniversary of radical leftist SYRIZA party’s ascent to power comes as it struggles to clinch a deal to extend bailout financing from international creditors and, more ominously, with several of its main pre-election pledges apparently abandoned in the face of tough negotiations.

Protesters torch trolley bus, clash with police in Athens

Around 40 hooded anti-establishment protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at riot police in central Athens on Saturday, setting fire to a trolley bus.

Police fired teargas to try and control the crowd outside Athens Polytechnic University, near the central Exarchia district, a Bohemian quarter popular with artists and left-wing intellectuals.

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