Keep Talking Greece

CEO of Greece’s Privatization Fund (TAIPED) Resigned

July 19, 2012 21

CEO of Greece’s privatization fund (TAIPED) Costas Mitropoulos resigned on Thursday afternoon. According To Vima, Mitropoulos will officially submit his resignation on upcoming Monday and he will explain the reasons for his decision. The daily stresses on its online edition that Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wanted anyway to replace high-ranking …

Greek PPC Cuts Electricity to 235 Bed-Ridden Seniors 80-90+ Years Old in Athens Hospice

July 19, 2012 15

For a bill of 866 euro Greek Public Power Company (DEH) cut the electricity supply to an Athens Hospice hosting 235 bed-ridden seniors who average age is between 80 and 90+ years old. The strange thing is that the bill expires in upcoming August 3rd, 2012. According to daily To …

Greek Foreign Ministry Issues Travel Warning for Syria

July 19, 2012 Comments Off on Greek Foreign Ministry Issues Travel Warning for Syria

Greek Foreign Ministry issued on Wednesday a travel advisory and asks Greeks to avoid travelling to Syria. Violence dramatically escalated on Wednesday night with at least 200 people killed after the assassination of the Defence Minister and two other top military officials. “Due to the rapid deterioration of the security situation in …

German Railways (DB) to Rescruit “Gastarbeiter” from Greece, Spain & Portugal

July 19, 2012 3

“Gastarbeiter” of the European South Unite! You got a new employer! A German one! The German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) want to recruit personnel from the EZ-bailout countries of the European South like Greece, Spain and Portugal to address the company’s personnel shortcomings. “We really think in this direction,” DB-Personnel Chief Ulrich …

Athens Suburb: Why Was a Municipality Police Chief Arrested?

July 19, 2012 Comments Off on Athens Suburb: Why Was a Municipality Police Chief Arrested?

Greek authorities finally caught the responsible for the huge Greek debt: the head of a municipality police in one of the Northern suburbs of Athens. The man was arrested for allegedly embezzlement. The police chief was filling with gasoline his own motorcycle registering the bill to a municipality police.. motorcycle. “Police …

It’s Official: Greek Emergency Property Tax 2012 Tagged in Electricity Bills

July 18, 2012 2

Forget what I told you about the Emergency Property Tax 2012. Greek Finance Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying that the Emergency Property Tax for 2012 will be tagged -again – in the Electricity Bills. “Due to current law and technical difficulties as well as time limitations, it is …

Athens: Man, 75, Dies from West Nile Disease

July 18, 2012 Comments Off on Athens: Man, 75, Dies from West Nile Disease

A 75-year-old man is the first victim of the West Nile disease in the Greek capital – A virus infection transmitted through “tiger” mosquitoes. The man was been hospitalized with encephalitis at the Intensive Care Unit of “Ippokratio” hospital. The man was a resident of the city centre, Greek media …

Israeli President Shimon Peres to Visit Athens in August

July 18, 2012 Comments Off on Israeli President Shimon Peres to Visit Athens in August

Israeli President Shimon Peres will pay a historic visit to Greece in August, online daily Proto Thema exclusively reported citing diplomatic sources. Peres’ visit, the first official visit of an Israeli President to Athens, follows the visit of Greek President Karolos Papoulis to Israel in July 2011. Peres will meet his …

Greek Gov’t: No New Austerity Measures; Just the New “Old” Ones Worth €11.5 Billion

July 18, 2012 5

Whew! What a relief! Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras and the three coalition government partners Antonis Samaras (ND), Evangelos Venizelos (PASOK) and Fotis Kouvelis (DEMLEFT) mainly agreed on measures worth 11.5 billion euro demanded by the Troika. The three party leaders agreed to apply the measures imposed, approved and voted at the …

Greeks Live in the Dark, Unable to Pay Electricity Bills, PPC Management Gets €3,500 “Family Allowance”

July 18, 2012 18

This is one example of the madness Greeks experience each and every day when they contact public services. The story was published at a website by Dimitris Messinis who was eye-witness of the struggle of a citizen to pay utilities and lives in the dark as The Public Power Company …

Patras/Achaia: Several Areas in State of Emergency Due to Wildfires

July 18, 2012 1

The areas of Ano and Kato Kastritsi, Argyra, Sellia and Platani in the Achaia prefecture, Western Peloponnese, have been declared into a state of emergency after wild fires broke in the early morning on Wednesday. Firefighters struggle to extinguish the fire, while residents of several communities are fleeing as flames threaten their …

Greek Gov’t Hires an Army of 49 General Secretaries

July 18, 2012 2

A miracle happened overnight. The Greek government swelled and doubled itself.. After several days of consultations between the coalition government partners Nea Dimocratia, PASOK and Democratic Left, the names of the General Secretaries assigned to the country’s ministries were announced: An army of 49 people! 9 more than the 40 ministers. …