Akis Tsohatzopoulos’s cousin buries ex Defense Minister Papantoniou in an interview; the troika remains unconvinced by government plans for the primary budget surplus; foreign companies are given immunity from tax laws in Greece; Greeks continued to invest in cafes and hair salons during the crisis; and the Council of State issues a bombshell ruling over salary cuts for uniformed government employees.

REAL NEWS – Sunday
 

New revelations from Akis’s [Tsohatzopoulos] Cousin

Zigras “finishes” Giannos Papantoniou in an interview with Real News

  • “Mr Papantoniou didn’t terminate any of the sinful contracts he was left by Mr Tsohatzopoulos but continued to implement them. He obviously found something interesting in them given that he didn’t find anything illegal.”
  • “Mr Kandas informed Giannos’s right hand man about the system of bribes in the MoD.”
  • “The man who knew everything about everybody, Kambouroglou, supposedly committed suicide while the number one man who knew about the money trail, Mr Fouad, is missing.”

To PARON – Sunday

While for the… natives, every day they change tax laws and put us through the wringer…

They’re offering foreigners immunity for 25 years!

The consortia laid down the conditions under which they would sign the contracts over oil and natural gas deposits.

We’ve become a banana republic for a handful of dollars. 

NAFTEMPORIKI – Monday


Troika unconvinced by government plans

Government offering a portion of the surplus and third party taxes

The auditors don’t share the overwhelming enthusiasm

The government is developing a plan to close the gap between it and the troika regarding public finances via the greater than expected primary budget surplus. The instructions given to the financial committee are to avoid signals that the government is caving to the troika’s demands, avoiding additional measures to increase taxation. The government is attempting to convince its lenders that part of the primary budget surplus will be used to cover funding ‘gaps.’ However the circumstantial natures of the budget surplus and the excessive enthusiasm the government is attempting to portray, are making the troika nervous which is hardening its stance and asking for additional measures. The amount of the surplus that is being offered is 500 million euros whereas at the same time, the elimination of taxes on third parties is being accelerated with an annual value of 500 million euros.

KATHIMERINI – Sunday

Souvlaki, coffee and hair salons

Where Greeks have invested during the crisis according to a Commission report

Cafes, hair salons, grill houses and clothing stores make up the overwhelming majority of new businesses that have opened despite the dramatic 63 billion euro fiscal adjustment. Recent research by the European Commission has established minimal shifts from unproductive to productive sectors such as technology, and has expressed its concern. It recognizes as mitigating circumstances the freeze on bank loans and the explosion in unemployment, particularly among the young.

TA NEA – Monday

Bombshell decision by the Council of State over salaries of those in uniform

The court finds the law imposing cuts unconstitutional, opening the way for retroactive return of funds.

With an almost unanimous decision, the Council of State (Greece’s Supreme Administrative Court) has paved the way for money to be retroactively returned to all those in uniform. The supreme court judges ruled as unconstitutional the law with which the salary cuts were imposed from the end of 2012. The decision affects the military, police officers, firefighters and the coast guard and prompted an awkward first response from the Finance Ministry.