TA NEA

No more books for farmers

The changes the government will implement following bipartisan pressure and the tractor blockades on national roads

Farmers will no longer be required to maintain detailed accounting books [ie issue detailed receipts for many different transactions as initial reform proposals would have required] following yesterday’s decision from the government which will require them only to maintain proof of income when that exceeds 15,000 euros. In recent years 7 out of 10 farmers declared incomes of less than 1000 euros.

 

 

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON
 

Surplus under scrutiny

The troika’s priority is checking the Finance Ministry’s data

The government’s pleasant surprise – the much touted primary budget surplus which will plug all of the fiscal ‘holes’ in the budget, is the focus of a team of experts from the troika who are already in Athens and who are putting the Finance Ministry’s data under the microscope to see if the primary budget surplus is as high as is claimed by the government.

Growing from week to week, the height of the budget surplus surprised many both in and out of the county. It started at 300 million euros and grew steadily to 1.5 billion, confirming the ‘economic miracle’ that is supposedly unfolding.

All of this is occurring as the coyness over the date of the troika’s return remains. 

AVGI

Cosmetic works amid the ruins

The Ministerial Decision officially declaring Kefalonia an earthquake-hit disaster zone has yet to be issued. The statement by the government detailing the measures to support those affected amounted to a simple announcement despite definitive assurances that it would be issued yesterday. A mere 50 million is being budgeted to support those affected while they continue to ‘cook’ the criteria to qualify for aid. Potential European support remains murky. They are currently assembling the proposals they will submit, while private companies do little more than make vague statements. SYRIZA leader Tsipras: funds should be drawn from budgetary reserves, from non-executed European Structural Fund programs and from the European Solidarity Fund.

ETHNOS

Golden boys and golden parachutes

The Greek parliament has a record number of employees compared to other eurozone countries with 1,993 permanent and temporary workers. Greece is also in the lead over another negative practice: hiring staff through cronyism and nepotism – as well as the benefits that ‘everyone in the family’ enjoy. It is revealed that employees in the Development Ministry have received severance payments of up to 180,000 euros.

Parliamentary employees:

Greece – 1,993
France – 1,300
Finland- 420
Portugal- 360

 

 

KATHIMERINI

A toxic time-bomb in Aspropyrgos

Hospital and other waste in unregulated dumps

Dangerous hospital and other nightmarishly malodorous waste is hidden in small plots dotted between homes, businesses and allotments  in Aspropyrgos. Recent inspections by the Environmental Department of the Regional Division of Western Attica uncovered a chaotic and toxic dump in a facility operated by a waste management company. Among the company’s clients were private hospitals and clinics who probably did not know where their waste was ending up, yet were paying a high price for its treatment. And the particular company is just one of dozens that have sprouted up in order to cater to the needs of 7,500 industries in the area for which the Regional Division of Western Attica has only three inspectors.