Press Review June 4: For Sale

The government is to urgently push ahead with a fire sale of numerous state assets; the cleaning women of the Finance Ministry receive police beatings instead of the court-ordered re-hirings; China’s PM and President are to visit Greece to promote diplomatic and economic ties; billionaires congregate on the private island of Skorpios; and net revenue from shipping is forecast to rise to 5.7% of GDP.

The Press Project
4 Ιουνίου 2014 | 10:41:50

	DIMOKRATIA Under the Hammer! Monasteries, beaches, ski resorts! For sale is also the historic building on Olympus where Kolokotronis and the other leaders passed in 1821.
	ELEFTHEROTYPIA Beatings instead of re-hirings for cleaners Once again violence and beatings instead of re-hirings were what the ‘annoying’ cleaning women received yesterday, who for the past 28 days have tenaciously protested outside the Finance Ministry, demanding that the court ruling that was passed in their favour be implemented. The cleaning women allege a ‘barbaric police attack’ which resulted in two of the women being taken to hospital with injuries.
	KATHIMERINI China’s dynamic presence in Greece The President and Prime Minister will be coming in the space of one month The upcoming visits to Greece of the two leaders within the space of one month demonstrates China’s intense interest in further developing bilateral ties, as well as its strong contribution to the efforts for a Greek economic recovery. First to arrive will be the Chinese Premier of the State Council, Li Keqiang, on the 19th of this month. He will be followed, in mid July, by the President of China Xi Jinping who will visit Rhodes where he will meet with his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias. Beijing’s interest in Greece was confirmed by Mr Xi in a well-wishing message that he sent to the President of Greece for his birthday in which he referred to our country as a ‘strategic partner’. For his part Mr Li Keqiang will have talks with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras during which he is expected to highlight again Chinese interest in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP S.A.) as well as in various large-scale privatizations. The two Prime Ministers will in any case be present at the signing of an agreement between the companies Lamda and Fosun for the exploitation of the site of the former Athens airport at Hellinikon, while they will also sign a range of bilateral and trade agreements, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding for maritime cooperation.
	ESPRESSO Treasure island Onassis days on Skorpios for the birthday of Ekaterina Rybolovleva The elite invitees have already reached the island on mega yachts The price tag for security: how much the police helicopters, boats of the coast guard, frogmen and sniffer dogs will cost.
	NAFTEMPORIKI Revenue from shipping at 5.7% of GDP Net revenue for Greek shipping is expected to come to 4.9% and 5.7% for 2014 and 2015 respectively, up from 4.2% of GDP in 2013, according to a study by Eurobank which was conducted by the bank’s Department of Economic Studies and Forecasts. In the report it is stressed that Greek maritime shipping and tourism are the two basic pillars of Greece’s export sector. Indeed during the period 2000 – 2013 net revenue (revenue after expenditures) which came from maritime shipping came to 4.2% of GDP on average and contributed to funding 16.6% of imports in the same period.