The government in Skopje is not ready yet for a solution in the Macedonia name issue, a Greek government official said Friday afternoon. The official who spoke on conditions of anonymity said “it is the government in Skopje that is not ready, in the present phase, to proceed with a …
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Savvidis sells SEKAP and Donskoy Tabak to Japan Tobacco for $1.6 billion
SEKAP, the Greek Cooperative Tobacco Industry that was owned by Donskoy Tabak since 2013, will pass to Japanese ownership as part of a larger package deal worth around 1.6 billion dollars that was signed on Friday. Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) announced that the Group’s purchase of Russian-based Donskoy Tabac, part …
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Port of Thessaloniki privatization agreement finally signed
The agreement for the sale of 67 percent of Thessaloniki port to South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki (SEGT) Limited was signed at the offices of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) on Thursday afternoon. The agreement was scheduled to be signed last week, however, it was postponed as the Russian …
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Greece’s Transport Minister attacks FRAPORT: They don’t even clean the toilets!
Greece’s Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Christos Spirtzis criticized the German-Greek consortium Fraport Hellas that has leased 14 regional airports since the beginning of the year. “Fraport does not operate the airports better than the Civil Aviation, we have problems even with the cleanness in the toilets,” Spirtzis said in an …
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Greek-Bulgarian agreement connects Danube River with the Aegean Sea
Greece and Bulgaria signed a memorandum of cooperation to build rail connections between ports in Bulgaria and northern Greece. The agreement refers to the interconnection of the Greek ports of Alexandroupolis, KAvala and Thessaloniki with the Bulgarian ports of Varna and Burgas at the Black Sea as wells as with …
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Eurogroup deal: Measures €3.6bn in pension cuts, tax-free threshold (2% GDP) in 2019-2020
Creditors representatives will return to Greece as early as possible to finalize the second review of the Greek bailout program. At a press conference after the Eurogroup meeting, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said that Greece and creditors have reached a ‘great agreement’ in Malta. “We agreed that measures 1% of the GDP …
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Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Israel sign East Med Gas Pipeline project
Energy ministers from Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Israel signed an agreement on natural gas pipeline in Tel Aviv on Monday. The proposed 2,000 kilometer subsea pipeline would connect gas fields offshore of Israel and Cyprus with Greece and possibly Italy. Aiming to transform the Eastern Mediterranean into a regional energy …
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EU Commission is looking for staff level agreement on review by April 7
The aim is to reach a staff level agreement by the Eurogroup on April 7, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said on Monday, as Greece and lenders continue negotiations in order to conclude the second review of the current Greek program. The spokesman said that the negotiations between Greece and …
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Battle won: End of roaming charges when traveling within the EU
Long awaited …To be implemented soon. Groundbreaking decision on roaming charges within the European Union! EU negotiators agreed on wholesale prices, the final piece to make it happen. With the new agreement, when traveling in the European Union consumers will be able to call, send SMS or surf on their …
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Greece sets one condition, while seeking compromise with creditors and IMF
It looks as if the talks of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not bring the expected results. That is that the International Monetary Fund stays out of the Greek program. A day after the Tsipras-Merkel talks in Berlin, the …
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Natural Gas: Turkey, Russian sign Turkish Stream agreement
Turkey and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement for the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline project in Istanbul on Monday. Energy Minister Berat Albayrak and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak signed the agreement following a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, which continued for 140 minutes …
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Hard times before PM flies to China: COSCO Greece says key elements of Piraeus Port deal altered
Chinese Shipping corporation COSCO Greece objected on Wednesday to terms submitted to parliament for the sale of Piraeus Port to China COSCO Shipping, saying they were inconsistent with those previously agreed with the Greek privatization agency TAIPED. COSCO blames Greece for amending the original Piraeus Port deal agreed between the …
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Greece & Institutions agreed on which prior actions would not be implemented
Greece’s economic team and institutional creditors are a step closer to the release of the 3. bailout tranche of 7.5 billion euro. In an extraordinary teleconference that ended in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the two sides reportedly agreed on several ‘open’ prior actions that Athens had said it …
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Dijsselbloem, EZ officials hint: No Greek Deal will be reached May 24
I don’t know the original source of this statement but Greek media report about it. Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem is said to have said that he “can’t say with certainty that Greek Deal is reached on May 24th.” Another high-ranking source of the Eurozone has reportedly said that “we haven’t …
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NATO will send ships to the Aegean asap but operational questions still open
Defense Ministers of the North Atlantic Alliance unanimously decided the NATO involvement in the Aegean Sea in order to “assist Turkey in the refugees and migrants issue”, to “intercept smugglers moving migrants from Turkey to Greece,” – and in extended form also to Europe – and “to stem illegal trafficking …
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Greece, Israel & Cyprus sign “historical” Cooperation Agreement on Energy
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades came together to Nicosia and signed a joint cooperation declaration that has been hailed by the three leaders as “historical”. The three leaders pledged closer cooperation in seven fields: energy, tourism, research and technology, environment, …
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Greece-Germany sign deal, 50 tax officers to get crash curse in combating tax evasion
The Greek government signed a combat-the- tax-evasion deal with the German Federal State of Northrhine-Westfalia. The Germans will help the Greeks with know-how, staff training and data sharing. Based on the agreement conditions, 50 Greek tax officers will go to NRW and get the appropriate training to combat one of …
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Greece’s agreement protects only 25% of mortgages – Foreclosures just outside the door
Three in one mortgage receivers are most likely to lose their homes after Greece and creditors agreed on the measures to “protect the first residence”. Income criteria for first residence protection are set extremely low, the state is willing to subsidize and help the banks and the poor borrowers with …
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EURO-Leaders blackmail Greece to accept ‘toughest measures & sell-off’
After a marathon race of 17 hours, the Euro Leaders Summit ended on Monday morning. 17 hours of intense talks, with Greece trying to kill the monsters put on the table by the Eurozone officials – the finance ministers and the leaders. A breakthrough after five months of fruitless negotiations …
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PM Tsipras comments on IMF’s analysis, confident on imminent agreement “if Referendum with strong NO”
During a live interview with private ANT1 TV, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras commented on tonight’s IMF analysis on Greek debt. “IMF says 30% Debt Relief, 20 years repayment, new finance package. IMF didn’t tell us so during negotiations.” He expressed confidence for an agreement even if the Referendum result is …
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