TO VIMA (Sunday)

Prime Minister promises tax reductions

Antonis Samaras lays his cards on the table with To Vima

  • Gradually, and with budget surpluses a precondition, there will be a reduction in tax coefficients for VAT, income, profits and 38% less tax on real estate by 2016!
  • Support now for those on low pensions and for uniformed state employees
  • There won’t be early national elections
  • He will not back specific mayoral candidates, nor discredit rebels.

AVGI (Sunday)

A shocking prediction from the Levy Economics Institute

The debt will reach 208% of GDP if austerity is not ended

The annual report by the Levy Economics Institute on the Greek economy sees a ballooning of public debt which will reach up to 208% of GDP by 2015 if the same policies of harsh austerity are continued. In its strategic analysis brought to light by ‘Avgi’ it deems that it is not only the debt that is out of control but unemployment, as indeed its analysts had predicted last year. The report predicts that the government will only achieve its target over the deficit, while it is estimated that the reduction in the trade deficit is not due to an increase in the competitiveness of the Greek economy but a reduction in oil imports. The Levy analysts don’t only focus on doom and gloom predictions in the event that austerity is continued. They propose three alternative policies for Greece to get out of the vicious cycle: a.) a new Marshall plan, b.) a freezing of the debt and interest payments and c.) the creation of a parallel financial system.

 

 

KYRIAKATIKI ELEFTHEROTYPIA (Sunday)

Contracts of Corruption

The Proastiakos [suburban railway line], road tolls and the Athens ‘Megaron’ Concert Hall. The common denominator in these three important cases of corruption is the transfer of damages to the taxpayer.

For the Proastiakos, a project for the 2004 Olympic Games that still has not been completed, the consortium Aktor-Terna-Siemens has collected 109 million euros and further damages worth 20 million euros from the state. A report by Hellenic Railways experts has been submitted to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor.

Toll roads: the generous contracts give everything to the contractors, burdening only citizens and the state.

The Athens Concert Hall: its bail-out over its debts sheds light on crony loans from banks and the countless sponsorships from the financial and political elite.

 

 

KATHIMERINI (Sunday)

Israelis were breaking the Iran embargo through Greece

Spare parts for fighter jets shipped

An Israeli company attempted to send military equipment – specifically spare parts for F-4 type fighter jets – to Iran via Greece. This unprecedented violation of the sanctions imposed on Tehran by the international community was revealed by a secret operation conducted by the US Homeland Security Investigations branch working together with the anti-narcotics and weapons branch of the Greek Financial and Economic Crime Unit (SDOE).

According to evidence that has been revealed and is being published today by ‘K’, the operation was conducted in two phases: in December of 2012 and April of 2013, the ‘details’ of which are reminiscent of a Hollywood film. 

ESPRESSO (Sunday)

Greek tycoons are selling their yachts!

The mega yachts of Goulandris, Alafouzos and Dragni are going under the hammer.