Finance Minister Christos Staikouras announced on Thursday he will present a supplementary budget to cover the cost of additional aid for households and businesses hit by high energy costs. Speaking to state boradcaster ERT, the finance minister cited “satisfactory” fiscal data. Staikouras said the performance of tourism and revenues from …
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Poll: Price hikes cause of concern, ND-SYRIZA difference drops to 10.5%, no technocrats gov’t
Difference between ruling conservative New Democracy and main opposition party left-wing SYRIZA has decreased to 10.5% in the preference of potential voters as the high energy cost and the price hikes are a reason of concern for 47% of the Greeks. At the same time, Greeks seem to turn down …
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Lockdown costs Greek economy as much as €3bln per month, says finMin
Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Tuesday, said a nationwide lockdown in the country as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic translates into losses of three billion euros on a monthly basis, whereas the losses are currently calculated at 2.7 billion euros monthly. Specifically, he said that for every …
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Purchase of Rafale, missiles upgrades will cost Greece €2.32 billion
Greece’s government said on Thursday it will pay 2.32 billion euros ($2.8 billion) for the purchase of 18 French-made Rafale fighter jets and an upgrade of compatible missiles, under a major military overhaul amid tensions with neighboring Turkey. The acquisition of French fighter jets will take place gradually within the …
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IATA urges Greece to cut cost for travelers’ Covid-19 testing
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on the Greek government to cut the cost of PCR Covid-19 tests for travellers and establish a new independent regulatory authority for civil aviation as part of a package of measures to save the aviation, travel and tourism jobs in the country. …
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Thessaloniki airport to offer coronavirus test to travellers
After the Athens International Airport also the airport in Thessaloniki offers travellers a Covid-19 test. Arriving or departing travellers will be able to do a molecular test to determine whether they have been infected by the coronavirus as of August 21, the airport operator said on Tuesday. The airport has …
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Athens airport to offer COVID-19 test to travellers and staff
The Athens International Airport (AIA) has announced that it will offer coronavirus (Covid-19) testing, upon request, to the arriving or departing travellers and Athens airport staff as of Wednesday, August 5, 2020. The initiative will be carried out in cooperation with the Athens Medical Center and with the aim to deal effectively …
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Cost of electricity in Greece the highest among EU’s 27
Greece had the highest average cost of electricity among the 27 member-states of the European Union in the first quarter of 2020, a report by the European Commission published on Thursday has shown. The Greek electricity wholesale rate, which is also used to determine the retail rate, stood at 50 …
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Greece’s private hospitals charge up to €300 for a coronavirus test
Extreme situations create extreme profit opportunities. In the case of the coronavirus, it is the exorbitant prices for the test when conducted in private hospitals and diagnostic centers. Several Greeks reported on social media that the average price sums up to €290, when in the public hospitals one is charged …
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Coast Guard to fine water sports lovers who ignore weather warningss
Bold water sports lovers who ignore bad weather warnings will not only be fined but will also come up for the cost of their rescue by the Greek Coast Guard. In a statement the Greek Coast Guard said on Thursday that it activates a law of 2002 about relevant issues. …
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€12,000 for a Cake? Angry Greeks force Minister to pay from own pocket
Agriculture Minister Makis Voridis had to follow the tradition and cut the New Year’s Cake for the ministry’s personnel. He ordered a Vasilopita and posted its cost on the government website for ministries expenses: proud 12,000 euros. A former deputy agriculture minister of SYRIZA denounced the expense saying that she …
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Greece to upgrade F-16 and Mirage-2000 at a cost of half a billion euros
The Ministry of National Defense has submitted a bill to the Parliament including among others the upgrade of fighter jest F-16 and the Follow-On Support/FOS of Mirage-2000. The total cost exceeds half a billion euros. The draft law envisages enhancing the operational performance and dynamics of F-16 aircraft as proposed …
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First cremation facility in Greece opens in Ritsona, East Attica
A historic moment for Greece: the first cremation facility in Greece has started its operation a couple of days ago in East Attica, 75 km away from Greek capital Athens. The facility is private. Board member of the Ritsona Incinerator and president of the Greek Cremation Society, Antonis Alakiotis, said …
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Juncker: “Aid to Greece has not cost anyone a single euro!”
Outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that “Greek aid has not cost a single euro.” He pointed out that “the euro would be at risk of collapse” should Greece or any other country leave the eurozone. HE said among other that Greece forged its statistics in order to become …
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Weather damages in Crete’s infrastructure may exceed €100mn (videos)
The video shot by a drone shows the damages and the floods in Chania Prefecture caused by barometric low Okeanis that stroke the West past of Crete with powerful rainfalls. It is mostly the infrastructure on the island that suffered immense destruction due to landslides and soil erosion. The road …
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New Heraklio Airport on Crete to cost €1.5bn, create 1,500 jobs
Indian infrastructure company GMR Airports Limited, along with its Greek partner Terna Group, will develop the new international airport of Heraklion in Kastelli, Crete, after Greek Transportation & Infrastructure Minister Christsos Spirtzis signed the concession agreement. On Friday, the minister and the consortium signed a concession agreement for design, construction, …
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Lime Scooters make their debut in Athens, available to locals & tourists
Electric Lime Scooters made their debut in Athens this week offering a quick, easy, economical and environment friendly alternative to locals and visitors of the Greek capital. Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) on Wednesday, the company’s managing director Nikolas Hatzidakis said the hired electric scooters will be an …
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Upgrade of 85 Greek F-16 to Viper starts, 1.1bn project
Τhe upgrading program for 85 F-16 fighter jets with the Block 70/72 Viper system will be formally launched on Monday, Lockheed Martin’s VP Business Development Initiatives in Europe Dennis Plessas said at a press conference in Thessaloniki. Revealing the time table of the upgrade, Plessas said that ” a great …
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Greece’s once biggest private MEGA TV to stop broadcasting in 15 days
After 28 years in operation, Greece’s once biggest private television channel MEGA TV will be removed from the signal network. This was announced by Minister for Digital Policy and Media Nikos Pappas on Wednesday, after the new TV license holders were anno0unced. Asked by reported on if Mega TV will …
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Three Greek motorways cost €1.2billion more than they should, EU Auditors report
Construction of three motorways in Greece cost 1.2 billion euros more than it should. Furthermore the projects were poorly planned and significantly delayed, a report by the European Court of Auditors on public-private partnerships (PPPs) has found. The EU Auditors examined construction projects in four EU member states, that is …
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