Payments

The Economy Ministry in Athens on Thursday announced that subsidies totaling 411.5 million euros would be granted to 2,527 tourism enterprises in Greece, after it had finished processing 7,297 business plans.

Sofia. Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Rumen Porodzanov said that by second samples he was referring today to the samples currently taken in the 20-km perimeter around the five villages affected by ovine riderpest, Focus News Agency reports.

The large pension cuts imposed by the law drafted by former labor minister Giorgos Katrougalos, combined with the reduction in applications, have reduced the backlog of retirement lump sums, thereby bringing down the overdue arrears of the ETEAEP auxiliary fund by 35 percent.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila announced on Thursday that farmers will receive this year their subsidies for agriculture in advance.

The government is planning an overhaul of fines on undeclared labor that will be reduced, but accompanied with the full payment of workers' contributions, Labor and Social Security Minister Effie Achtsioglou stated.

An Education Ministry initiative to provide extra tuition to secondary students at Greek public schools so that they do not have to rely on private institutions is expected to start on Wednesday.

This academic year, the ministry will provide 19 additional tuition centers, up from last year's 421.

The courses will be available until May 31, when classes end.

The inspection plans of Greece's tax authorities have been upended by the decisions of the Council of State and the case law of the European Union, forcing the government to proceed to the adjustment of fines imposed on tax dodgers.

Traffic code violators will only pay what they can afford under new regulations announced on Monday by Transport Minister Christos Spirtzis, who argued that plans to peg the size of fines to violators' tax declarations are designed to crack down on wealthy offenders who aren't fazed by existing fines.

The sale of heating oil for the new winter season began on Friday, with rates close to last October's level of 0.93-0.95 euros per liter in Athens and slightly lower than the 0.97 euros/lt observed at the end of last season (April 2017).

Athenians are turning to natural gas in response to the the high cost of heating oil, as data released by the Attica Gas Corporation showed that 17,500 households chose to join the gas network in the capital in the first nine months of the year, beating the annual target of the company by 45 percent.