Adonis Georgiadis

Greek banks have caved in to government pressure, freezing customer charges for a series of banking services, at least until the end of the year.

The new charges banks have imposed on most of their services customers' transactions will be discussed in a meeting of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with the heads of the country's biggest banks on Thursday.

The new charges are an effort to offset the sector's losses from interest takings, which have been in constant decline over the last few years.

Having a stronger relationship with China is good for Greece, and their cooperation has set an example for European countries, according to Adonis Georgiadis, the Greek minister for development and investments.
Georgiadis said Chinese enterprises' investment in Piraeus port is a successful case of bilateral cooperation.

A bill aimed at introducing measures to stimulate growth in Greece was submitted in Parliament late on Wednesday and is to be debated from Friday, Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis said on Thursday. 

The euphoria among Greek business circles after July's election is beginning to spread abroad, albeit slowly. However, it will take a systematic and coordinated effort to convince serious investors and funds to put their money on our country. Greece's bankruptcy and crisis are still very fresh in the minds of investors.

The auction of a primary residence belonging to a family affected by the 2018 deadly wildfire in Mati in eastern Attica, which on Wednesday sparked clashes between riot police and communist unionists, has been suspended following an intervention by Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis, state-run Athens-Macedonia news agency (ANA-MPA) reports.

Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis discussed Greece's growth plan for the economy and its effort to attract foreign investment with a US delegation led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Athens on Thursday.
Georgiadis and Ross were joined by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who discussed developing bilateral trade ties.

Forty major foreign investment firms and 30 Greek business groups will be meeting in Athens on September 20 in a roundtable to discuss investment projects that could be implemented in the near term.

Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis has denied reports that the government is going to allow all stores to stay open on every Sunday.

"There is no such debate within the ministry. The issue of Sunday openings has been adequately dealt with by the previous government," Georgiadis told Skai TV.

He added that shopowners are divided over the issue.

The government is rushing to jump-start the country's largest private investment, to develop the former airport at Elliniko.
Three ministerial decisions involving the park, the coastline development and the casino are expected to be approved by August 27, and a fourth, involving other construction, by August 30.