NAFTEMPORIKI

A new agreement to be signed before the Eurogroup of April 1st

The new schedule of checks and loan tranches

The government’s new schedule foresees a definitive agreement being struck with the country’s lenders by the Eurogroup meeting of the 1st of April which will take place in Athens and during which the approval of a major loan tranche will be decided which will cover all or most of Greece’s payments that are due in May.

According to the new schedule there will be an agreement with the troika over structural reforms by the Eurogroup meeting of March 10th.  At the same time the government will commit to passing legislation by the end of March necessary for the implementation of all of the agreed reforms that are still outstanding based on the list drawn up by the OECD.

Provided that the necessary conditions are met, the release of the next tranche will be decided which amounts to 8.8 billion euros which will cover a large part of the bonds that expire in May which are worth 9.8 billion euros. The difference will be covered by 30% of the surplus.

ELEFTHEROTYPIA (Sunday)

€25 billion in profits for fuel smuggling rings

The fuel smuggling scam that was recently revealed cost the state approximately €3 million. However according to statements made in an interview with this paper by Giorgos Sourlas, the Ministry of Justice’s General Secretary for Transparency, the fuel smuggling cartels that have been operating undisturbed for the past 25 years have made at least €25 billion in illegal profits. Thanks to connections with high-ranking public officials and those in charge of the relevant inspections they have been able to operate with immunity. 

REAL NEWS (Sunday)

George gave the order!

Incendiary testimony implicates the former prime minister

A Foreign Affairs Ministry employee of the Directorate General of the International Development Office, has all but pointed the finger at George Papandreou as the main person behind the NGO demining scandal that ‘collected’ €9 million (for background on the scandal click here).

Read about the special role of [close Papandreou adviser] Alex Rondos and the telephone conversations which prove that the president of the International Mine Initiative, Kostas Tzevelekos, was preparing to flee abroad. 

 

AGGELIOFOROS (Sunday)

A wave of businesses leave the country for Bulgaria

From the north of Greece and other areas

“You have to be crazy to invest in Greece today,” a Greek businessman tells ‘Aggelioforos’. Athanasios Kritisinis, who recently invested in a supermarket in Kirkovo of Bulgaria, isn’t alone in this view which is shared by hundreds of his colleagues and the young businessman who together constitute a new ‘wave’ of emigration to the south of the neighboring country. The town of Kirkovo which is now only 25 minutes away from the northern Greek city of Komotini is proving to be a draw for many Greek businessmen. 

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON

Christos Pachtas: The mayor of the mines

The past and present of the politician who has become identified with the investment made by Eldorado Gold in the face of opposition from the residents of his city. Why he maintained that, “if the opponents of mining prevail during the elections, the next day all of the anarchists, ANTARSYA supporters (a radical left group), SYRIZA and perhaps the workers will come and burn down some village and there will be victims.”