Press Review May 29: Greece’s primary budget was achieved… at the expense of the national land registry

The agency responsible for establishing a national land registry (ktimatologio) was sacrficed in order to achieve the primary budget surplus; the resignation of DIMAR president Fotis Kouvelis has wider political repercussions; Alexis Tsipras calls on industrialists to accept a ‘new social agreement’; The Athens Stock Exchange posts its 7th consecutive day of gains and 125,000 tourists per day are expected over the summer.

The Press Project
29 Μαΐου 2014 | 11:48:58

	ELEFTHEROTYPIA They ‘ate’ the money for the real estate register The fees levied on property owners became… the primary surplus The Finance Minister Giannis Stournaras raided the coffers of the National Cadastre and Mapping Agency seizing 250 million euros raised from fees levied on property owners. The amount which was to be used to continue the process of creating a national register of properties was added to the infamous ‘primary surplus’ which was advertised by the government as a major achievement. The National Cadastre Agency is now suspending payments to its suppliers and clients, is suspending activities while all of the necessary surveys for the property and forestry registries have been cast into uncertainty. The ‘biggest of the big projects’ is heading for the rocks, with the goal being its completion – worth 1 billion euros, paid for in heavy fees for property owners – being taken over, together with the complete control of private and public land, by foreign investors, via the Hellenic Asset Development Fund.
	EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON A call for a new agreement Tsipras’s proposals for comprehensive economic reforms A return of the minimum wage to 751 euros / month Redistribution of income to vulnerable groups Restructuring of outstanding loans of households and businesses A reduction in the cost of energy for industry State funding for businesses SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, with the tailwind of the result of the European elections, called on the members of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) to shoulder their ‘national responsibility’ and respond to ‘the call for a new social agreement’, speaking yesterday at the annual general conference of the industrialists.
	KATHIMERINI The resignation of Fotis Kouvelis with an eye on the presidency The pre-announcement of the resignation of Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis in the upcoming meeting of the party’s planning committee and immediately after at an emergency party conference which is being planned by Mr Kouvelis himself, took not only his own MPs by surprise but the wider political scene as well. The majority of DIMAR officials believe that the move is nothing other than a political maneuver to prompt the party to request that he remain in his position. Other DIMAR MPs however deem it unthinkable for Mr Kouvelis to have such goals, suggesting that it would be difficult for the president of a party whose support collapsed to 1.2%, to seek reelection. In any event Mr Kouvelis’s final decision as well as subsequent developments in DIMAR take on a wider political significance, given that the party continues to have 14 MPs in parliament and could potentially influence crucial votes. Particularly given the fact that the stance taken by the specific lawmakers will determine whether parliament will be dissolved for the election of a new President of the Republic this coming March.
	NAFTEMPORIKI Athens Stock Market: Gains of 14% in seven days The Athens Stock Market has registered 7 consecutive days of gains following yesterday’s positive day of trading with the general index registering overall gains since last Tuesday on the order of 14.4%. The overall turnover remained at a high level at 185.4 million euros. Market analysts appeared cautiously optimistic over the trajectory of the stock market stressing that the danger of political instability, to a certain degree, had been overstated.
	ETHNOS 125,000 tourists a day all summer The record number of tourist arrivals is expected to bring over 13 billion euros in revenue.