Category: Greece

Greece Threatened With 70,000-Euro Daily Fine Over Illegal Landfills

The European Union’s legislative body, the European Commission (EC), has warned Greece to shut down several hundred illegal waste dumps across the country, or face daily fines of up to 71,193-euros ($93,925) until they do so, reported Kathimerini News on Thursday.

According to a statement by the EC, Greece had failed to live up to a 2005 ruling to protect the environment, while the government also ignored a letter of formal notice in April 2009 reminding it of its obligations.

Greece Eyes $2 Billion Investment, 2,000 New Jobs From Europe Gas Pipeline Deal

The governments of Greece, Albania and Italy on Wednesday signed a trilateral agreement to build a Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) for Europe, as part of efforts to diversify the region’s natural gas supply away from Russian reliance, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Greek Finance Minister Says the Worst of Crisis is Over

Greece’s finance minister believes that the worst is over for his country and is confident that 2013 will be the last year of the recession. Greece has been in steep economic decline, shrinking over 20 percent since the start of the global financial crisis and had on many occasions been on the verge of a ‘Grexit’ and default.

Despite soaring unemployment and poverty rates, Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras thinks the bad times are coming to an end and is confident that the economy will start to grow next year.

Greece Invoke Emergency Decree To End Transport Strike

Transport employees working for Athens’ subway system have been ordered to call off an eight-day old strike over a lower pay structure, reported Reuters on Thursday, after the government invoked an emergency anti-strike legislation that would see any remaining strikers either arrested or laid-off.

Greece Hopes To Lure More Chinese Tourists In 2013

Chinese tourists to Greece spend, on average, more than 200 euros per person than any other foreign visitor in the country, noted the President of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) on Sunday, as the nation prepares to introduce new measures to boost tourism figures, as a means of economic recovery.

Greece Passes $17.3 Billion Austerity Bill Amid Violent Protests

In a 14-hour debate marked by internal rifts and violent protests outside its gates, the Greek parliament narrowly voted to approve a sweeping set of austerity measures early Thursday, effectively ensuring that the troubled nation would remain within the eurozone and secure its next round of bailout funds from international lenders.

Greek Police Arrests Journalist For Leaking List Of Tax Evaders

A Greek journalist has been arrested for publishing a list of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks, including several politicians and prominent business leaders, who had all allegedly stashed funds in Swiss bank accounts, reported Reuters on Sunday.

Kostas Vaxevanis, the editor of the Hot Doc weekly magazine, was reportedly arrested in Athens over the weekend after police had stormed his house while he was in the middle fo a live radio interview.

One-in-Four Greeks Unemployed as Austerity Bites

Unemployment in Greece has hit a record high of 25.1 percent in the month of July, with more than 1,000 jobs lost every day over the past year, according to the latest official data. In particular, unemployment among young people rose to 54.2 percent.

Unemployment rose for a 35^th consecutive month to 25.1 per cent in July, which was more than triple the level at the start of the Greek recession in 2008, said Elstat, Greece’s statistical authority.

Troika Sets Oct. 18 Deadline For Greece To Implement Reforms

Greece’s troika of international lenders – the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank – has warned the Greek government to implement up to 89 so-called “prior actions”, like overhauling labour and pension laws, by October 18 “at the latest”, or risk missing out on the next instalment of the bailout package, worth up to 31.5 billion euros ($40.6 billion).

Greece Potentially Sitting On $600 Billion Worth Of Natural Gas: Report

An underwater geological formation just off the Greek island of Crete could prove to be Greece’s economic salvation, claimed a report by Reuters on Wednesday, after a study predicted that it may hold up to $600 billion worth of natural gas – enough to clear the country’s debt and bring billions in annual cost savings.