Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 By Dimitris Kontogiannis Greece is on the road to credit upgrades in 2020 It looks quite challenging, and perhaps a long shot, but 2020 could be the year Greece joins the club of countries with investment credit rating status. A host of factors from limited new [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 By Nick Papandreou Let Lebanon Burn? The political paralysis in Lebanon has led to an economic crisis. The banks have imposed capital controls to ensure deposits do not disappear. It is estimated that the country needs a $20-$25bn bailout including International Monetary Fund (IMF) support to [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 Interview by A.D. Papagianidis and Harry Savvidis George Zavvos, Deputy Minister of Finance in charge of the financial system presents the“Scheme Hercules” for non-performing loans which is expected to give the boost Greek banks urgently need Where are we finally - after at least five years of [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 By A. D. Papagiannidis Steady course ahead, or fraught with risk? In Greece the year 2020 has started with some institutional change – a new President of the Republic has been named, Supreme Court President Katerina Sakellaropoulou; a fresh electoral system voted in, claiming future Government stability; [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 By Kerin HOPE The South Balkans energy hub South Balkans region is transformed into an energy hub of Europe a the dedtriment of Ukraine’s role. The critical final phase is the construction of the floating LNG terminal south of Alexandroupolis. Russian gas has begun to bypass Ukraine [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 By Kyra Adam Migration and Greek–Turkish relations , the permanent migraine of the Greek government. Since Day One, the ruling party of ND has faced two permanent crises, difficult to resolve, which negatively affect the much needed “bright image” of the new government; These are the migration [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 By Dimitris Kontogiannis Local banks have started preparing their bad loan portfolios to be securitized under the newly legislated Hercules Asset Protection Scheme. However, their biggest challenge will be to single out the strategic defaulters among their delinquent borrowers. A US academic paper estimates conservatively the strategic [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 Publisher’s note 2020: A transition year Dear Readers, The new year 2020 started packed with developments on all fronts. During January we have had a number of interesting institutional firsts. A new law established a system that will allow diaspora Greeks to vote in national elections – although [...]
Greek Business File, January-February-March 2020, No 124 Interview by GBF Dr. Theodoros Tsakiris, Associate Professor for Energy Policy & Geopolitics, University of Nicosia presents his views on the East Med pipeline prospects. Greece, Cyprus, Israel with their IGA (Intergovernmental Agreement) signed in Athens, in early January sealed their political agreement for the East Med [...]
Greek Business File, November-December 2019, No 123 Βy Alexandra Sdoukou* Greece’s drive towards a more sustainable future: the new priorities of energy policy. Alexandra Sdoukou, Secretary General of Energy and Mineral Resources at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, analyzes the ambitious roadmap for Greece’s transition to a greener energy mix and the planned [...]
