Keep Talking Greece

Workers occupy Athens Metro Line 2

January 7, 2013 3

Workers at Athens Metro occupied the Metro depot at Sepolia suburb of north-eastern Athens, causing problems to thousands of passengers on Monday morning using Line 2 Agios Dimitrios-Agios Antonios. The occupation started at 2 o clock in the morning with the effect that a number of metro trains could not leave the depot …

Greece’s politicians to order 6 tugboats for the Navy: worth €22 million, V.A.T. excluded

January 4, 2013 2

Greece has apparently overcome the crisis and now development, growth and supplies are under way. Therefore a committee consisting of the Finance Minister and several representatives of government and opposition parties will be established with the aim to organize the construction and the purchase of six tugboats for the Greek Navy. …

Greece’s judges to get €100 million in retroactive wage increases

January 4, 2013 11

Next week the Greek government will approve with an extraordinary provision the release of 100 million euro to be paid to judges as retroactive wages increases, outstanding from 2011. According to Proto Thema, the release of the incredible amount of money is the key commitment of Minister of Justice, Antonis Roupakiotis, to …

Policemen express sympathy to colleagues arrested on suspicion of drug dealers protection

January 4, 2013 Comments Off on Policemen express sympathy to colleagues arrested on suspicion of drug dealers protection

Some twenty policemen gathered on Friday morning outside a court in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, to express sympathy and solidarity for two colleagues arrested for allegedly offering protection to a network of drug dealers. The solidarity protesters cheered and welcomed the defendants as …heroes when the two were taken to court in handcuffs …

Ernst & Young: Grim unemployment predictions for Greece (28%) and Spain (27%)

January 4, 2013 1

A study of the Ernst & Young financial auditors company predicts a new record low for unemployment in the eurozone, with the number of unemployed surpassing the 20 million mark in the second half of 2013, from 18.7 million in October, protothema reported. Ernst & Young bases its assessment mainly …

Samaras to meet Merkel in Berlin, Jan 8/2013

January 4, 2013 Comments Off on Samaras to meet Merkel in Berlin, Jan 8/2013

The German government said Friday that Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Berlin next week. Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said Merkel will welcome Samaras to the chancellery on Tuesday morning at 11:30 on January 8th 2013. Seiber added that Merkel and Samaras will have an informal …

IMF report: Austerity programs with 200% errors

January 4, 2013 4

The International Monetary Fund finally realizes what every doctor would advise an overweight patient: that fast fiscal diets are too unhealthy and too dangerous for people – and governments. That’s more or less the conclusion of IMF Economic Counsellor Olivier Blanchard and research-department economist Daniel Leigh, conclusion published on a working paper. …

Greek Public Power Company to increase welfare levy and fatten electricity bill

January 4, 2013 Comments Off on Greek Public Power Company to increase welfare levy and fatten electricity bill

I see it coming sooner than we thought: electricity bills will reach exorbitant heights that we, average Greeks won’t be able to pay. We will be obliged to spend our nights with romantic candle lights, cook on a gas stove and wash our clothes per hand – not to mention …

Man gets electrocuted as he tries to steal Proastiakos train cables

January 4, 2013 1

A Roma man was electrocuted and died on the spot as he tried to steal cables from the Proastiakos train rails. The tragic incident occurred in the early morning hours of Friday in Menidi area of eastern Athens. According to Greek media, the man, 35, died as he was trying to …

Prosecutor files felony charges against private vocational school owner

January 3, 2013 Comments Off on Prosecutor files felony charges against private vocational school owner

An Athens prosecutor filed felony charges against the chairman and owner of private vocational training group IEK XYNI, his wife and his daughter. The charges brought against the Xyni family followed an investigation about forged social security clearence, debts to social insurance fund and a series of tax offenses. Prosecutor Popi Papandreou …

Greek media businessman arrested for owing €9 million to social insurance fund

January 3, 2013 3

A mounting debt of 9 million euro to Greece’s biggest insurance fund IKA led to the arrest of businessman Andreas Kouris, head of Real Media company the publishes a newspaper and has a radio station. The arrest is due to older debts of television channel ALTER that closed two years ago …

Greece’s political parties get funding according to elections results of 2009 (lol)

January 3, 2013 3

What if the composition of the Greek parliament changed after the elections of May and June 2012. What if some political parties do not have representatives in the Parliament anymore and were kicked out by other parties. They will get funded and thus according to the results of the elections of …