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Verpassen deutsche Unternehmen den rechtzeitigen Einstieg in den griechischen Markt?

Publiziert am 26.Juni.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

Griechische Unternehmen haben im Jahr 2013 ca. 6,2 Milliarden Euro Investmentkapital angezogen

in einem Rezessionsklima sind im Jahr 2013 eine Reihe wichtiger Übernahmen und Fusionen in Höhe von 3,3 Mrd. Euro abgeschlossen worden
die Umstrukturierung der Bankenbranche und die Privatisierungen haben die Übernahmen und Fusionen entscheidend vorangetrieben
Die drängenden Umstände im inländischen Bankgewerbe haben die größten griechischen Unternehmen dazu getrieben, Finanzierungen direkt bei den internationalen Finanzmärkten durch Ausgabe von Anleihen nachzufragen
Im Jahre 2013 sind ca. 2,85 Mrd. Euro durch die Emission von internationalen Staatsanleihen zu Zinssätzen zwischen 2,4% und 9,8% generiert worden

Der öffentliche Sektor in Richtung einer Erholungsphase

Das Haushaltsniveau hat sich durch die Erzielung eines Primärüberschusses in 2013 wesentlich verbessert, während die Strukturreformen weiter fortdauern (Steuerverwaltung, Sozialversicherungsträger usw.) oder bereits abgeschlossen worden sind

Griechenland – Haushaltsanpassung Schätzungen

EE17 – Konjukturbereinigte Primärbilanz (% BIP) Griechenland - Konjukturbereinigte Primärbilanz (% BIP) Griechenland – Gesamtstaatliche Bilanz (% BIP) Griechenland – Gesamtstaatliche Primärbilanz (% BIP) Quelle: Nationales Statistisches Amt, IWF, Nationale Bank Griechenlands

Die Anwendung des mittelfristigen Stabilisierungsprogramms hat zur Stärkung der Markterwartungen beigetragen, indem die Liquidität und der allgemeine Verlauf in Bezug auf die griechische Wirtschaft verbessert worden ist

Handelsbilanz (% des BIP)Schätzungen 1,4% balcken

Quelle: Nationales Statistisches Amt, IWF, Nationale Bank Griechenlands

positiven Nachrichten

In 2014 ist ein Anstieg des BIP zu erwarten. Gemäß den aktuellen Einschätzungen wird sich die reale Jahreswachstumsrate in 2014 auf 0,6% belaufen und der Durchschnitt für die Jahre 2015 bis 2018 wird einen Anteil von 2,3 % annähern

in Mil. € Quelle: Economist Intelligence Unit Nach Angaben des IWF ist infolge der zunehmenden Investitionen in 2016 mit einem Anstieg

des zyklischen Aufschwungs von 3,7% (wobei sowohl der Nachholbedarf {pent-up demand} als auch neue Möglichkeiten verwertet werden)
der Nettoexporte (mit Reflexion einer weiteren Verbesserung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit) und
des privaten Endverbrauchs (nach dem Aufstieg des Realeinkommens) zu rechnen.

Reales BIP Schätzungen kurve

Quelle: Europäische Kommission Rückgewinnung des Vertrauens in die griechische Wirtschaft Rendite der Staatsanleihen psi

Rendite von Staatsanleihen (10-jährig)

	April 2013	April 2014	Änderung
Griechenland	11,25%	6,14%	-511
Deutschland	1,26%	1,50%	+ 24
Spanien	4,69%	3,18%	-151
Italien	4,32%	3,20%	- 112
Portugal	6,28%	3,94%	-234

Quelle: Bloomberg

Die griechischen Staatsanleihen haben eine höhere Rendite im Vergleich zu anderen Peripherieländern der Eurozone erzielt
Die griechischen Rendite hat im Zeitraum von 2010 bis 2012 erstmalige Werte erreicht und ist wieder im April 2014 auf das Niveau von 2010 zurückgekehrt
Die Rendite von Unternehmensanleihen ist im entsprechenden Zeitraum ebenfalls auf einen tiefen Stand gefallen, wodurch die Wiederherstellung des Vertrauens der Anleger widerspiegelt worden ist

Rendite von internationalen Unternehmensanleihen Rendite rendite

Quelle: Bloomberg Aktuelle Anschauungsbeispiele für die Wiederherstellung des Vertrauens

Die Mehrheit der Transaktionen betrifft die Umstrukturierung der Banken und die Privatisierungen

Zwei Transaktionen der „Piräus Bank“ beziehen sich auf die tiefgreifende Umstrukturierung der Bankenbranche in Höhe von 924 Mil. Euro
Zwei weitere Transaktionen betreffen Aktiengesellschaften für Investitionen auf Immobilienbeständen (817 Mil. Euro), und insbesondere Banken
Zwei Transaktionen sind Privatisierungen in Höhe von 842 Mil. Euro und betreffen die Glückspiel-Industrie (OPAP, Griechische Lotterie)
Zwei Transaktionen stammen aus dem Energiebereich

Kontinuierliche Abnahme der Übernahmen & Fusionen zwischen 2008 und 2012 und Beginn des Aufschwungs in 2013 grafik

Die finanzielle Lage Griechenlands seit 2009 hat den Umfang und die Anzahl der Transaktionen negativ beeinflusst
Der Transaktionsdurchschnitt ist wieder angestiegen und nähert sich den Werten von 2010 an

Die Rekapitalisierung der griechischen Banken ist in 2013 abgeschlossen worden, wodurch der Europäische Stabilitätsmechanismus bedeutungsvolle Beteiligungsanteile an allen systemischen Banken erhalten hat

Lfd. Nr.	Ankündigung	Beschreibung der Transaktion	Transaktionswert (Mil. €)	Beteiligung desESM (%)
1	Juni	Nationalbank Griechenlands Α.G.	8.677	84,4%
2	Juli	Piräus Bank Α.G.	6.985	8ι,ο%
3	April	Eurobank Ergasias Α.G.	5.839	98,6%
4	Mai	Alpha Bank Α.G.	4.021	83,7%
25.522

Griechische Unternehmen haben in 2013 sechs internationale Anleihen ausgegeben

Lfd. Nr.	Emittent	Ausgabemonat	Laufzeit (Jahre)	Kupon (%)	Wert (inMrd. € )	S&P Bewertung
1	Coca-ColaHBCFinance	Juni	7	2,375	800	BBB+
2	OTE PLC	Februar	5	7,87	700	BB-
3	HellenicPetroleum Finance	Mai	4	8,00	500	Nicht verfügbar
4	Intralot	August	5	9,75	325	B+
5	SB Minerals Finance	August	7	9,25	275	B+
6	Frigoglass Finance	Mai	5	8,25	250	BB-
				Summe	2.850

Quelle: Bloomberg Künftige Entwicklung von Übernahmen & Fusionen ab 2014

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Katergorien: Allgemein, griechenland-krise, Wirtschaft
Keywords: Griechenland, griechenland-krise, investition
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Große internationale Investoren zeigen hohes Interesse an griechische Anleihen

Publiziert am 23.Juni.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

Laut einer Ansage der Agentur Bloomberg, vertrauen die größten Investoren der Welt griechischen Staatsanleihen, nachdem sie unter dem Druck der sehr niedrigen Renditen in Europa stehen. Danach brachten die griechischen Staatsanleihen seit Beginn dieses Jahres bis zum 16. Juni einen Gewinn von 30% ein. Das Portfolio des amerikanischen Finanzunternehmens Prudential Financial verfügt über griechische Anleihen mit einer Laufzeit von bis zu fünf Jahren, die britische Investmentmanagergruppe Jupiter Asset Management erhöhte ihre Positionen in griechischen Wertpapieren ab Oktober, während der weltweit aktive Vermögensverwalter Fidelity Worldwide Investment laut Bloomberg stetig größere Positionen im letzten Halbjahr aufbaut. Griechenland ist im Vergleich zu den anderen Ländern der Eurozone mit den schwierigsten Problemen konfrontiert, doch hat das Land laut Aussagen des Strategen der Prudential Financial zwei Vorteile auf dem Anleihemarkt zu bieten:

- der relative Wert der griechischen Anleihen ist attraktiv und - ihre Laufzeit ist vorteilhaft

Griechenland hat nach vier Jahren erstmals wieder Anleihen mit fünfjähriger Laufzeit am Kapitalmarkt zu einem Wert von insgesamt drei Milliarden Euro verkauft, wobei sich die Gebote der Anleger auf mehr als 20 Milliarden Euro summierten und die Emissionen damit mehrfach überzeichnet waren. Die Rendite der Anleihen der Eurozone ist seitdem auf Rekordwerte gesunken, zumal die Europäische Zentralbank (EZB) ein Maßnahmenpaket zur Unterstützung der Wirtschaft der Zone und zur Deflationsbekämpfung eingereicht hat. Die durchschnittliche Rendite der Staatsanleihen der Eurozone fiel am 9. Juni auf den historischen Tiefstand von 1,3992%,, und stieg am 16. Juni gemäß der Bank of America Merrill Lynch auf 1.3576%. Das Anlegervertrauen in Griechenland ist jedoch keinesfalls gesichert, zumal die Preise der 10-jährigen Anleihen zum ersten Mal nach vier Monaten im Mai einen Rückgang verzeichnet haben, unter Bedenken, dass die Regierungskoalition an Unterstützung verlieren und ihre Möglichkeit zur Anwendung von Sparmaßnahmen untergraben werden würde.
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Katergorien: Allgemein, griechenland-krise, Wirtschaft
Keywords: Griechenland, griechenland-krise, wirtschaftskrise
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The National Growth Model of Greece: an attempt to reignite the Greek economy

Publiziert am 16.Juni.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

How Greece reached the “edge of the hill”

Before the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2009, the growth rates in Greece were very high – the average rates of growth were significantly higher than the European Union average. The crisis unveiled that this development was not real and it was financed by external public sector borrowing. This extensive borrowing led to the gradual increase of the fiscal deficit (the public debt reached the highest level in Europe – almost 120% of the GDP). As a result, Greece could no longer borrow from the international capital markets and it was made clear that from that point the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could finance the needs of Greece. The support of these 3 institutions was supplied under the presupposition that the country would implement very radical structural reforms which often came at an enormous social cost. Indeed, numerous structural reforms were adopted during the last four years in order to return to a sustainable growth path. According to the data provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Greece has implemented the largest fiscal adjustment programme compared to the member countries of the OECD. Due to this programme, the Greek economy is showing again some encouraging signs of development. For the first five months of 2014, there was a primary budget surplus of 711 million Euros (with the target being 208 million Euros). The situation for the same last year was completely opposite: there was a deficit of 970 million Euros. In 2013, Greece had the lowest inflation rate in the eurozone and the consumer price inflation turned negative in March 2013. Unemployment rate shows signs of stability, even though it remains at unacceptably high levels (jobless rate remained stable at 27,8% for the first three months of the year compared to the same period of last year).

The National Growth Model of Greece

The political model upon which the economy of Greece was based prior to the crisis, it is now obsolete. The policies followed for more than 30 years were responsible for the creation of a large and inefficient public sector with overlapped responsibilities and huge bureaucracy. Furthermore, the complicated tax system and the numerous laws were some of the barriers that deterred businessmen from investing in Greece. If Greece wants to have a more extrovert economy and a more business – friendly environment that appeals new investors, it is imperative to change its strategy and deliver a new model that guarantees a viable economic growth. The Greek government developed a new National Growth Model (NGM) which exploits some of the country’s comparative advantages: geography, climate, culture, human and natural resources. The NGM - which was presented by the Greek Prime Minister Mr Samaras two weeks ago- will try to develop even further the following economic activities:

Tourism: it accounts for more 15% of the Greek GDP. The Greek government aims to increase this contribution. In order to do so, it is necessary to: a) invest in infrastructure works that will facilitate transportation, b) to exploit the tourist real estate (hotels, resorts, vacation homes, camping areas, etc), c) improve connectivity within the country – e.g. the airports costs in some of the airports are very high preventing tourists from entering specific tourist places. The tourist period should not be concentrated only in summer months but it can be expanded throughout the whole year. The overall aim is to provide for a quality tourist product that will make the tourists to spend more money on the local economies.
Energy: The primary aim is to establish a robust national energy strategy that will set the following targets: eduction of CO2 emissions, improvement of energy efficiency in buildings, exploitation of renewable sources.
Agro-food industry and food processing: Greek land offers a great variety of products with high nutritional value. Greece could have exploited this asset and could have penetrated foreign markets. Instead of that, the European markets sell a limited percentage of Greek products (only 2%, when the penetration of Italian or Spanish products is 10% and 13% respectively). It is important to deliver a strong product exports strategy that will standardize and modernize the food processing procedures (production, packaging) and secondly it will ensure a long-lasting presence at foreign markets.
Logistics: Greece is a perfect logistics hub due to its geographical position. A national logistics strategy is already being developed. It will simplify the procedures related to the logistics activity, making easier the relative businesses to invest in the country.
Pharmaceuticals: The Greek pharmaceutical industry produces generic drugs. It is a strong player that is ranked within the TOP 5 of manufacturing sub-sectors in terms of exports. Greece aims to withhold this position by promoting policies that help innovation (e.g. access to low cost financing or tax facilitation).
Research and Development (R&D), innovation: Provision of economical incentives for activities related to this field would make Greece the R&D center of the wider area.
Construction materials industry: this economic activity is highly related to other sector such as energy, infrastructure, R&D
Shipping: it is clear that if Greece wishes to maintain its leading position in international maritime, it is necessary to establish an active shipping center responsible for providing solutions and incentives.
Tradable sector: Greece can take advantage of the fact that its labour force is very well qualified and it can become a regional center for the provision of the specialized services in the wider Balkan and Eastern Europe area.

The Greek government has developed the National Growth Model aiming to reinforce the competitiveness of the economy, and to create an investment – friendly environment. None model can be elaborated unless some important policies are primarily adopted. So, the Greek government is already implementing the following policies:

Fiscal consolidation: this effort is continuous ever since the outbreak of the crisis.
Re-organisation of the public administration and elimination of corruption: there is an on-going effort to reduce the size of the public sector and to fight corruption phenomena.
Improvement of tax policy: The targets to be achieved are: decrease the corporate taxation, further cuts in Social Security contributions, reduction of taxes for specific economic activities like R&D, innovation, energy projects.
Improvement of the justice system: The justice reform that is currently taking place, will lead to the acceleration of the justice award, because the judicial procedures will be rationalized.
Privatizations of the public properties: the expected revenues will be used to reduce the public debt.
Creation of a favorable investment climate and facilitation of the international trade. This is the most important policy adopted by the Greek government towards its ambition: appeal new investors mainly from abroad. It includes some actions such as simplification of licensing procedures, simplification of taxation for businesses, and establishment of the institution “Enterprise in Greece”.

The crisis was an opportunity for the Greek policy makers to realize that the policies from the past could no longer be applied. The only viable way that leads to real economic growth is the radical change of the old economic model. The National Growth Model proposes a new way that things should be done regarding the major pillars of the Greek economy. This new model will be successful, if and only, if it eventually achieves two things: reinforcement of the competiveness of the Greek economy and creation of a business – friendly environment in the country.
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Katergorien: griechenland-krise, News in English, Wirtschaft
Keywords: Griechenland, griechenland-krise, wirtschaftskrise
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Financial tools for the back bone of the Greek Economy: Small and Medium Enterprises

Publiziert am 20.Mai.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

Definition of SMEs

SME stands for Small and Medium Enterprises. The European Commission (EC) has provided for the definition of SMEs:

A small sized enterprise is the one which employs less than 50 people and its turnover is less than 10 million Euros
A medium sized company is the one that employs less than 250 people with a turnover less than 50 million euros and
A micro sized company employs less than 10 people and its turnover is less than 2 million Euros.

The importance of the SMEs for the Greek economy

The results of the annual report of the EC on the SMEs (SBA fact sheets – Greece 2010- 2011) showed that by the year 2010, they represented the 99,9% of the total number of companies in Greece. The SME sector employed the 85% of the work force. The Greek economy is still based on the small and medium enterprises, despite the fact that the sector has showed a deep decline and has suffered the effects of the economic crisis. In the 2011, there were 62.287 less SMEs compared to companies existing in 2009, which led to 144.604 job losses.

Support tools for the SMEs

It is evident that the SMEs sector is very crucial for the enhancement of the competiveness of the Greek economy. The government during the last four years has taken several steps to support the SMEs, for example it enacted several laws that simplify the start-up processes of a business, it adopted initiatives that promote the extroversion of the companies, it supported the creation of the electronic platform www.startupgreece.gov.gr which provides the new entrepreneur with all the necessary information to create a new business in Greece. SMEs are dealing with a very serious problem: lack of liquidity. One of the reasons that are responsible for this problem is the difficulty to have access to various financing instruments (loans, grants, etc) because traditional banking loan system requires strong guarantees that the SMEs cannot provide. The Greek government has undertaken some initiatives that will help the small and medium companies to overcome this difficulty:

Agreement with the European Investment Bank

On 12 June 2013, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Greek government signed an agreement, according to which the EIB provides 500 million Euros to support the foreign – trade oriented SMEs in Greece. The agreement was also signed by 3 Greek and by 3 foreign banks which provide the loans to the small and medium enterprises.

Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development

The Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development (HFED) was established in 2011 and is fully owned by the Greek state. Its original mission was to facilitate the access of the SMEs to the available financial instruments delivered by the Greek banks, by providing guarantees on behalf of the companies. Nowadays, the fund has broadened the range of its activities and it had created 4 sub-funds (each one of them with distinctive management) in order to provide financing tools at attractive terms. The HFED and its sub-funds are co-financed by the National Resources and the European Structural Fund. The sub-funds are: Entrepreneurship Fund. The mission of the fund is to help the creation of new SMEs and to support the existing ones by refinancing their working capitals. The current activities of the fund are:

Provision of low interest loans (total budget of the project 550million Euros). This activity is suitable for existing SMEs or start-ups. The interested parties may apply for a loan to the banks co-operating with the HFED.
Provision of low interest loans (total budget of the project 80 million Euros). The activity aims to support SMEs located at the Greek islands.
Provision of guarantees for any SME wishing to get a loan from a bank (total budget of the project 150 million Euros).
Provision of loans (total budget of the project 315 million Euros) special for SMEs oriented to the following sectors: foreign trade, youth entrepreneurship, innovation, green entrepreneurship.
Fisheries Fund. The mission of the fund is to provide guarantees to any SME with activities such as production, processing and marketing of fishery products. The fund is currently inactive.
Fund for Energy Efficiency in Households. This fund helps the owners of households to undertake all the necessary actions to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce their energy consumption. These actions may include application of heat insulation, maintenance of heating and air cooling systems, replacement of old window technology. The program started on 1 February 2011 and it is valid until the resources are over. The interested party may contact a co-operating bank.
Agricultural Entrepreneurship Fund. The fund ensures that any viable small to medium business of the agricultural sector is funded. The current activity regards financing SMEs that process and market agricultural products.

Institution for Growth in Greece

Despite the fact that the 2 previous initiatives helps the SMEs increase their liquidity by getting access to financial instruments, there are recent studies that show there is still a funding gap in the Greek market (around 15-18 billion euros). In order to overcome this gap the government decided to establish another fund which will provide loans to SMEs: Institution for Growth (IfG). The preliminary negotiations started two years ago, followed by the voting of the law by the Greek parliament that described the formation process of the IfG (Christmas 2013). By the end of April 2014, the Greek government signed two important agreements: one with the German investment bank KfW and another agreement with EIB. It is ready to start its operations within the next 3 weeks. The Hellenic Republic will participate no more than 50% in the capital share of the fund it will be financed by 3 main sources:

Greek financial resources (eg. National Strategic Reference Framework). The Greek state has already pledged 350 million Euros
Investments Banks (e.g KfW) or International Investment Organisations (e.g EIB). The French government has expressed the willingness to invest in the fund through its Bank for Public Investments and the “Caisse des Depots”. The China Development Bank has also showed interest in investing in the IfG.
Private investors (e.g. Onassis Foundation has promised to offer 30 million Euros).

IfG is addressing to foreign private investors, therefore it was decided to locate this institution to the Duchy of Luxembourg (as international practice proposes). Even though, it will be located in Luxembourg and will be ruled by the laws of this country, the IfG invest in companies active in Greece. Its aim is not to substitute the existing financial institutions (such as HFED) but to overcome funding gaps. In order to achieve this goal, the IfG will operate as an “umbrella fund” which will embrace three sub funds that will provide:

Debt financing for SMEs. 200 million will be given equally by the Hellenic Republic and the KfW. 50 million Euros will be given by EIB. It will be the first of the three funds what will start operating.
Equity capital to SMEs having significant growth potential.
Debt or equity financing for infrastructure projects which are not funded by the EIB’s programmes.

The interested parties may contact the banks for more information and apply for loans. After 4 years of deep recession, the Greek economy is gaining again its competitive advantage. Financial institutions from abroad show their trust to the economy of the country and they appreciate the progress achieved regarding the creation of a friendly investment environment. The initiatives described above aim to enhance entrepreneurship and liquidity for the SMEs, as well as to reduce the unacceptably high levels of unemployment.
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Katergorien: griechenland-krise, News in English, Wirtschaft
Keywords: business in Greece, greece, Griechenland
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Greece’s Budget Surplus Sparks More Controversy

Publiziert am 13.Mai.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

With the May 2014 European and local elections looming, the conservative-led coalition government has already embarked on the process of making political capital out of the first primary budget surplus recorded in a generation. Predicting a figure of around €2.5 billion, more than three times the government’s original estimate of €800 million, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has stated: ‘We must help those most affected by the crisis, in order to give them a second chance. Our goal is to exit the crisis without leaving anyone behind.’ To this end, he has vowed to return 70% of the surplus to the people hit hardest by the austerity measures. This will go some way to addressing the problems of low-earners, and includes a €500 bonus to pensioners and members of the police and security services, who along with the majority of public sector employees have borne the brunt of drastic cuts over the past four years. By the end of April, more than a quarter of a million people had already applied for these ‘social dividends’. The opposition, led by the radical-left Syriza party, immediately went on the attack, arguing that the idea of a primary surplus was the invention of a government that had not only drastically cut spending but failed to include in their calculations factors such as debts to state suppliers, which it had neglected in favour of a transparent attempt to buy votes from the casualties of austerity. Syriza argued that any budget surplus had been achieved only with the creation of a surplus of the unemployed and poverty-stricken. Meanwhile, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel still insists that in return for Germany’s backing, Greek austerity measures should continue. Syriza issued a statement declaring that Greece clearly still had a long way to go before coming out of austerity, and that a new Memorandum of Understanding between Greece and the Troika would only lead to further cuts and job losses in the public sector, despite the country preparing a bond issue to raise money on the markets for the first time since the international bailout began. The statement concluded: ‘The celebrations about the primary, pre-election surplus… cannot hide the future that Mr Samaras and Mrs Merkel have in store for the Greek people.’

Public sector protests

The Troika’s austerity measures had included a demand for 25,000 public sector workers to go through the government’s ‘mobility scheme’, whereby workers are suspended on 75% wages while waiting to be transferred to another job. The scheme has been called a ‘precursor to layoffs’ because unless another job was found within a year the worker would be dismissed. The agreement caused a rash of protests and demonstrations by workers and unions, the preferred method being the occupation of local government offices rather than strikes, which would have only resulted in more lost wages. The European Commission stated that the suspensions were a necessary part of the government’s restructuring programme, aimed at bringing the high public sector wages bill in line with the euro-zone average. For decades, Greece’s main political parties have traditionally rewarded loyal supporters with public sector positions, causing it to grow rapidly and become ever more expensive to maintain, although only 22.6% of Greeks work in the public sector compared to the EU average of 25%. The problem is commonly seen as more a matter of productivity than size. According to the opinion polls, Greece, out of all the EU countries, is the least satisfied with its public administration service. In a country where the security of public sector jobs has traditionally been inviolable, this was a recipe for conflict, which brought more workers onto the streets in protest in March 2014 ahead of resumed talks between the government and the Troika. The coalition government has not held back from hailing an end in sight for the economic crisis, although austerity will have to continue as part of the loan agreement. It is committed by the end of 2014 to cutting 11,000 civil servants, reducing supplementary pensions and eventually to reducing the main pension. The Memorandum of Understanding puts a freeze on wages until 2018.

Run-up to the election

Despite the huge numbers of applicants for the social dividend, Prime Minister Samaras had to wait until the EU Statistics agency Eurostat had certified the actual amount of the budget surplus before proceeding with any payouts. The figure of €1.5 billion or 0.8% of annual GDP was confirmed in a press conference on 23 April by European Commission spokesman Simon O’Connor, who said it was ‘well ahead of the 2013 target, which was for a balanced budget.’ Meanwhile, the bond issue of €3 billion, which took place on 10 April, attracted orders for nearly seven times this amount. Greece has the highest unemployment figure in Europe and is still blighted by deflation, but this sign of growing confidence among its EU partners in its prospects for recovery has sent one positive message to voters who may doubt that the recovery is real, and has helped to counteract the stigma attached to a country that is blamed for starting the financial crisis in Europe. On 28 April, in a meeting chaired by Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, representatives of the two coalition parties agreed on how the €525 million social dividend would be distributed, the main aim being to provide healthcare coverage to a large sector of the population who are uninsured. A bill will be tabled in parliament this week, with measures agreed between the Greek government and its creditors. The bill will be hastened through the parliamentary process in the hope of beginning distribution of the dividend by 9 May. Means testing will be based mainly on 2012 incomes, although the government is anxious not to leave out people who became unemployed in 2013. €430 million will go to vulnerable groups such as pensioners and people on low salaries. The starting income level to qualify for the one-off benefit will be €4,000 per annum, rising to between €10,000 and €11,000, depending on the number of children in the family. A base figure for the award will be €500, with an added €150 per child, so that a family with two children should receive €800. A further €20 million will go to people who became unemployed in 2013, and between 68,000 and 70,000 in the police force or the military will be awarded a total of €35 million. In addition, services for feeding and housing the homeless will receive €20 million. The largest single group to receive the dividend will be the 350,000 to 4000,000 people without social security, who will receive a total of €20 million worth of healthcare coverage. This group includes the long-term unemployed, people who are retired and uninsured, and unemployed professionals who have not kept up with insurance payments or suffer chronic health problems. It remains to be seen how these measures will affect the election results.
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Katergorien: News in English, Politik, Wirtschaft
Keywords: business development, business in Greece, expanding business to Greece, greece, Griechenland, logistics greece, wirtschaftskrise
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Another opportunity to invest in Greece

Publiziert am 5.Mai.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

Exploitation of the Greek state-owned assets: Another opportunity to invest in Greece.

Since 2010, Greece is making a continuous effort to recover from the severe effects of the economic crisis and to boost its economy. Because of the fact that the Hellenic Republic is the biggest owner of properties in the country, the policy makers decided to exploit these properties by selling or leasing land, real estate buildings, and shares of public corporations. However, it was not easy to handle such huge welfare, because different public companies used to handle (monitor, valuate and exploit) the public properties. The fiscal strategy that Greece is following defines that the public sector must be reformed and some of the public companies must close. So now, there are 2 main institutions, which exploit the state-owned properties.

Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund

One of the two companies is the “Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF)”. It was established on 1st July 2011 under the medium term fiscal programme. Its legal form is “Societe Anonyme” of which the Hellenic Republic is the only share holder. Its duration is expected to be 6 years, but it may exceed this timeline once the Ministry of Finance decides that would be necessary. Among the members of the Board there are two observers who have been appointed by the European Commission and the Eurozone respectively.

Mission of the Fund

The medium term fiscal programme of 2011 defined that the Greek government had the commitment to develop a Privatisation Programme for the state-owned assets. The Fund was established in order to support and promote this privatization programme in a transparent, rapid, and efficient manner. Then the Greek government enacted an “Interministerial Committee for Restructing and Privatisation”. This committee (which consist of the ministers of: Finance, Development and Competiveness, Infrastructure, Environment, and Tourism) decides which one of the public properties are ready to be privatized and then it transferred to the HRADF. The fund has the jurisdiction to sell, to develop and to liquidate the 900 assets that have already been transferred to it from the state. These assets are divided into 3 categories:

Real estate and land development (e.g. 35 real estate buildings, Helliniko S.A.)
Infrastructure (e.g. Athens International Airports, Regional Airports)
Corporate (e.g. Hellenic Football Prognostic Organisation, Hellenic Petroleum, Hellenic Post).

Completed Projects

These are some of the completed projects of the fund:

Helliniko SA. It was the company which was responsible to manage and exploit the land as well as the establishments situated in the area of the former Athens International Airport. On 31 March 2014, it was announced that 100% shares of the company was sold to a private investor. The purchase price was 915 million Euros.
Hellenic Football Prognostics Organisation S.A. On 11 October 2013 33% of the company shares were sold to a private company. The purchase price was 652 million Euros.
State Lottery Tickets. On 30 July 2013, the rights to operate circulate and manage the Lottery Tickets were transferred to a private company for 12 years. The purchase price was 770 million Euros.
Real Estate Buildings. So far, 28 real estate properties have been sold or leased with total revenue 261,3 million Euros.

Since 2011, the Fund has received 2,6 billion Euros through the implementation of the privatization programme.

In –progress Projects

These are some of the on-going projects of the HRADF:

Piraeus Port Authority S.A.(OLP) / Thessaloniki Port Authority S.A(OLTH). The HRADF wishes to sell the 67% of the shares of both these companies. There are already 6 different available proposals for the OLP.
12 more port authorities. The Fund wishes to sell shares of twelve more port authorities.
37 Regional airports. The HRADF wishes to privatise the airport authorities of 37 greek airports.
Thessaloniki Water Supply and Sewerage Company S.A. The fund invited the investors to purchase the 51% of the shares of the company.

Future Projects

The HRADF is about to proceed to the following actions within the next 12 months

Privatisation of the Hellenic Post: the Hellenic Republic is holding 90% of the shares. It wishes to sell this percentage.
Selling of the 17% of the shares of the Public Power Corporation S.A.
Selling of shares of Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company S.A
Acquisition of the ownership right on the “Aghia Triada” land. It is a seafront property of 132,483 m2 located 27 km from the center of Thessaloniki city.

Public Property Company

There is a second company which is entitled to exploit the state-owned properties. It was first established in 1998 (with a different name) and its main objective was to exploit the tourist properties of the country. In 2011, it merged two other state-owned companies with similar activities and it got its final name – Public Properties Company SA (PPC). Nowadays, the PPC is handling more than 70.000 state –owned properties mostly of tourism interest (marinas, ski resorts, camping, spa resorts). The PPC exploits all these properties which have not been transferred to HRADF. It may lease some of them (the leaser in most cases has the obligation to invest money to renovate the place) but it may manage them as “branch offices”. Examples of these branch offices are the “Parnassos Ski resort” and the Vouliagmeni Seashore SA (a land situated in south Athens area and offers leisure and sea-related services).

Projects of PPC

Nafplia Palace Hotel: it is a group of 3 hotels situated in Nafplio – Peloponnese. The PPC has signed a leasing contract with an investor who is obligated to invest 6,3 million euros to renovate the whole group.
The PPC will run the renovation works of the lifts at Parnassos Ski Centre from July to November 2014. The cost of this project is estimated around the 29,5 million and it will be delivered through the National Reference Framework.

The first e-auction for properties

The most innovative project that PPC is running is the website: www.e-publicrealestate.gr. It is an electronic – Ebay style – platform where the smaller public properties are auctioned. It runs since July 2013 and it aims to make these properties accessible to as many investors as possible. The types of properties that can be auctioned are residential, commercial, sports and tourist facilities and / or urban and rural land. In the near future, 16 are scheduled but no specific dates are given yet.

The co-ordination of the HRADF and the PPC

So far, the two companies used to cooperate for a small amount of properties. The PPC used to promote “mature” projects which were ready to be privatized such as the case of Helliniko S.A. The updated memorandum defines that the two companies will cooperate more in the future. More specifically, PPC will make sure that the properties are not mortgaged and they can be transferred to the HRADF. It is expected that by the end of 2015, 3000 properties will be transferred to the HRADF.

Exploitation of the church properties

A third company entitled to exploit properties is the newly established (January 2014) company responsible for the exploitation of church properties. It is half-owned by the Holy Archbishopry of Athens and half-owned bt the Hellenic Republic. The properties which the company will manage can only be leased. They cannot be sold. The state will receive the 50% of the incomes and the other 50% will be used for the church charities. The first property to be leased is a land of 83.000 m2 located to Vouliagmeni, south of Athens.

The advantages of the privatization programme for the economy of the country

The Greek government is making every effort to boost the economy. This aim can be achieved by attracting new investors. The privatization programme was one step towards this objective. Privatisations will not only help to reduce the public debt, but they will also bring some indirect benefits. The privatised properties will be developed by the investors and thus new jobs will be created. The underutilized assets will be used in a more effective way (as it will happen in the case of Helliniko or even Aghia Triada). The local communities and economies will be boosted. In the end, privatizations is a tool that enhances the good business climate that the new investors want to see in Greece.
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Katergorien: griechenland-krise, News in English, Wirtschaft
Keywords: business in Greece, greece, griechische Wirtschaft
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The funding tool that will boost the Greek economy (NSRF 2014-2020)

Publiziert am 25.April.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

National Strategic Reference Framework 2014-2020: The funding tool that will boost the Greek economy

What the National Strategic Reference Framework is

Every since its formation, the European Union (EU) had a great and important objective: to reduce the gap in the different regions’ levels of development, in order to strengthen economic and social cohesion between its Member States. Therefore, EU has developed a “Cohesion Policy”. Taking under consideration that by 2007, 12 more countries would join the European Union, the cohesion policy had to become updated. On October 2006 the EC approved the “Community Strategic Guidelines” for the programming period 2007-2013. Each Member State was obliged to follow these Guidelines. Each Member State was invited to produce a document that would define all the national policy priorities and at the same time it would suggest key elements of implementation: suggestions on how the money from funds would be used to bring development. This document was called “National Strategic Reference Framework” (NSRF) and it ensured that the consistency between the European cohesion policy and the respective policy would be implemented at national level. The financial instruments that funded the proposals of the NSRF were: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Cohesion Fund (ECF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

The impact of the NSRF on the economy of Greece today

The NSRF program in Greece (also known as ESPA programme) reached up the amount of 24,5 billion euros. ESPA Programme was a tool that boosted the economy in several ways. For example: 16.500 small and medium sized enterprises have been funded in order to modernize their operational processes.

18.500 infrastructure works are finished.
1,8 billion Euros were given to 815 new investment proposals
33 different actions were implemented that support the unemployed people

So far, Greece has absorbed 79,32% of the total available amount of the programme. This brings Greece at the top three positions among the 28 countries of the European Union.

The new programming period 2014-2020

By the end of the programming period 2007-2013, the European Union had to deal with a new economic situation: global recession. So the European Commission developed a 10 year strategy with the name “Europe 2020”. This strategy which was presented on 3 March 2010 aimed that the EU would overcome the crisis and is focused on five broad-spectrum goals:

increase of employment rate,
increase of investments in Research and Development (R&D),
emphasis on climate change and energy sustainability,
reduction of the rates of early school leaving,
reduction of social exclusion due to poverty.

The successful implementation of this strategy depends on the willingness of each Member State to adjust and implement it at national level. As a result, each Member State must submit a new NSRF document which will present the actions taken towards the achievement of the “Europe 2020 national targets. Greece has submitted its NSRF 2014-2020 (the new ESPA) to the European Commission, in February 2014. It is expected that by the end of June 2014, the EC will approve the programme. The available amount of money through the new ESPA programme are 20,8 billion euros. The funds that participate are same as they were in the previous programming period.

What the new programme will bring to Greek economy

The new programme is divided into 4 Sectoral Operational Programmes (SOPs). They are the main sectors that will help boost the economy in Greece as well as they will help achieve the national targets of the overall strategy “Europe 2020”:

Competiveness and Entrepreneurship. This SOP will absorb 25% of the total amount, i.e. 3,8 billion euros. This high percentage of absorption signifies the willingness of the Greek government to create a business friendly environment in Greece. The prosperity of the economy in Greece will only exist if the extroversion of the businesses operating in the country is enhanced. It is also important to fund any innovative business idea that is related to the following crucial economic sectors: tourism, rural development, information technology, design, environmental industry, energy production and saving. Especially for the latter, it is has been scheduled that 700 million Euros will be used to fund the programme “Energy Efficiency in household buildings”. It concerns grant aid for energy efficiency interventions to buildings which are used as residences and they are classified as low energy efficiency buildings. Their owners in order to apply for this aid should meet specific income criteria. Additionally, an extra amount of total amount of 450 million Euros will be used for the programme “Energy efficiency for buildings with professional use and buildings belonging to the State”.
Upgrading of public Sector. This SOP will absorb about 3% of the total amount, i.e. 0,4 billion Euros. The eligible actions for funding are: provision of electronic public services (e-governance), evaluation of the public servants, modernization of the justice system, upgrading of the public health services, upgrading of the local authorities services. The ambition is to diminish the stiff bureaucratic system that the citizens and most importantly the entrepreneurs had to deal with so far. At the same time, it is expected that the implementation of this SOP will bring better coordination between the ministries, which will make the investments in Greece easier.
Environment / Transportation. This SOP will absorb 24% i.e 3,7 billion Euros. It will be used to fund on-going infrastructure works like: the underground networks of Athens and Thessaloniki, completion of road and rail networks that connect Europe and Greece (trans-European networks). Additionally it will be used for funding environmental projects that promote the environment protection.
Training / Life –long learning / Employment opportunities. This Sectoral Operational Programme will fund any actions that aim to reduce the unemployment rate in Greece, to fight poverty and social exclusion. The effects of the economic crisis in Greece are visible in the everyday life. The unemployment rate has reached 27% in 2013. It is estimated that long-term unemployment can be very destructive for the social cohesion. Therefore, it is necessary that the forth SOP will be delivered very soon, and its results are expected within the next 2-3 years.

Apart from four main Sectoral Operational Programmes, there will be 13 Regional Operational Programmes. They will absorb 5,4 billion Euros (out of the total amount of 20,8) and they will be run by each one of the thirteen regions of the county respectively. The economic crisis unveiled the weaknesses of the Greek economy. The application of the NSRF programme (the ESPA programme) for the programming period 2007-20113 helped to blunt the tragic effects of this crisis. Even though, Greece did very well regarding the absorption of the funds of the previous programme, it is expected that the new programme NSRF 2014-2020 will bring more visible results: it will bring the greek economy back to the development road again. The new programme will finish all the on-going projects that started during the previous one (mainly regarding the infrastructure works), but most importantly it will bring new job opportunities and it will enhance the business climate in Greece. The exploitation of the resources coming from the European Structural Funds is a great opportunity for new investments to arrive in Greece. The new NSRF will mark a new era for the economy in Greece.
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Katergorien: griechenland-krise, News in English, Wirtschaft
Keywords: Griechenland, griechenland-krise, wirtschaftskrise
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Tourism: the keystone for the development of the Greek economy

Publiziert am 4.April.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

Tourism Keystone Development Greek Economy

Greece is an ideal tourist destination. It is a country with unique and diverse landscape, ancient history and heritage. Tourism has always been considered as the main pillar of the Greek economy. The economic crisis in Greece unveiled that in fact, tourism was not considered to be part of a serious national strategy. The present economic situation makes clear that tourism - must be used as a vehicle for the re-ignition of the Greek economy as long as several structural reforms are achieved and appropriate legal framework is implemented. The European Union thinks of tourism as a sector of special interest because of the fact that tourism contributes for 10% of the EU GDP and employs 20 million people. According to World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), during the year 2013 1,08 billion of citizens have travelled around the world, half of ten have visited Europe. Therefore, it is obvious that tourism can play an even greater role in the years ahead, towards the economic growth of the EU. This truth is also valid in Greece, where the tourism sector contributes 16,4% to the national GDP. On these grounds, the Greek EU Presidency promotes all the policies decided by member-states, so that Europe remains the top destination on the tourism map. Furthermore, taking into consideration that among the European countries, Greece has the second place with 16.500 km of coastlines (first being Norway), it is not a surprise that the Greek government aims to enhance its Coastal and Maritime Tourism. It will be one of the major fields of Action of the Greek Presidency.

Pleasure boats: new legal framework to boost coastal tourism in Greece

The Greek Minister of Shipping, Maritime Affairs and the Aegean has issued a law bill regarding the pleasure boats (or recreation ships, as also known) sector. It is the first time that a Greek government is making an attempt to apply a consistent legal framework upon the activities of the pleasure boats area. The government aims that this law will appeal more tourists from abroad who travel by pleasure boats. The existing vague situation of the yachting sector was for long prohibitive for tourists, as they preferred other neighboring countries to moor their boats, but not anymore.

Legislation on coastal tourism and the benefits it brings

This law bill provides the definitions of all types of pleasure boats:

Private recreation ships – motor yachts and sailing boats, with length over seven meters, used solely for leisure voyages.
Professional pleasure boats - motor yachts and sailing boats, having the capability of hosting 49 people. A charter contract between the owner and the charterer is required.
Professional tourist boats used to perform a daily sea trip.

Benefits by law implementation are:

Reinforcement of the Greek economy. The Hellenic Chamber of Shipping conducted a study which shows that every year almost 17.000 pleasure boats are moored at the marinas or the harbors existing along the Greek coastline. The people working on the pleasure boats sector as a whole are estimated to be 20.000.The government aims that this legal framework would be an incentive for more people preferring this form of tourism to moor their boats in Greece. If the estimations are correct, then in few years time there would be a creation of 60.000 new job opportunities.
Increase of the income of local businesses. It is estimated that every tourist who is spending 100 € on the services provided by a marina is spending another 450 € on the local economy.
Increase competiveness with other countries providing similar facilities. The bureaucracy is eliminated because the electronic registry for pleasure boats is established. Additionally the charter contract is submitted to the Greek authorities electronically. So far, it was necessary for the user of recreation ship to pay a small amount of harbor duties to get a departure permit. From now on, this harbor duty is repealed.
Pack in tourists from abroad. Foreign tourists will prefer Greece and its facilities for the following reasons:
- it will be permitted to charter a bareboat pleasure ship, as long as its length is up to 24 m (something which is already valid in other European countries).
- Foreign flagged (not coming from the EU) recreational ships can be chartered (under specific conditions).
- As already mentioned above, the paperwork is eliminated.
Pack in new investors interested to run business relating to the yachting sector. The law will introduce modern practices aiming to create a business – friendly environment.

Tourist Development: the key sector which will reinforce the economic climate in Greece

The Greek Ministry of Tourism has developed a law bill whose aim is to promote different aspects of this important economic sector. This law bill provides definitions of complex tourist infrastructures such as marinas, ski centers, and accommodation. The law bill introduces some reforms that will make the operation processes of all the above facilities more flexible and efficient. Furthermore, the law bill explains the meaning of the term “agro-tourism” and again it provides the framework under which all the businesses providing agro-tourism facilities will operate. If Greece wants to ensure sustainability of its tourist product, it is crucial to invest on the “human capital” – the people who be employed with tourist relevant jobs. Therefore, it is important to provide such an educational structure which meets the modern needs of tourist global environment. The law bill introduces changes that will affect the operating methods of tourist schools. Finally, the bill regulates matters that concern the efficient use of land available for tourist development.

The benefits of this law are:

It g emphasizes on the human capital, environmental protection and improvement of tourism infrastructure. These three elements ensure tourism sustainability. Hence, Greece will be more and more considered as the ultimate tourist destination.
he agro-tourism will provide support to the local economies of several regions of the country and it will highlight the competitive advantages of the Greek rural products.

Greek authorities realize that only rational reforms on tourism sector can bring the economic growth to the country. At the same, the EU takes tourism under great consideration, therefore serious coordinated actions on national and EU level must be taken, for tourism to be the tool for development.
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Katergorien: Allgemein, griechenland-krise, News in English, Wirtschaft
Keywords: Boats, greece, Tourism
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The Impact of New Greek Property and Shipping Tax Laws

Publiziert am 16.März.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

The Impact of New Greek Property and Shipping Tax Laws Greek tax laws have undergone major changes over the past year or so as part of the range of measures designed to combat the financial crisis and to meet the obligations of the bailout agreement. This has helped some, but forced others to make some difficult decisions. The removal of the property tax attachment to electricity bills was a popular move that benefitted many. Its replacement by a broader real estate ownership tax and the reduction in the rate of property transfer tax from 8-10% down to 3%, which came into effect in January 2014, has had the desired effect of stimulating movement in the property market, but this has not always been for positive reasons. A large number of property owners have made the decision to divest themselves of their assets to avoid the higher tax burden on ownership. One result of this is that revenues from property taxes in 2014 may be as high as €3.8 billion for 2014, compared to the 2009 figure of only €500 million; another is that property prices have collapsed. Casualties and beneficiaries There was much resistance among Greeks to the introduction of the new 3% transfer tax as it removed the tax burden from the few with large landholdings and onto the shoulders of the many - the 87% of the population who are home-owners, who would on paper share the tax burden more fairly but in reality have found it crippling. The new unified property taxes follow the model set by the troika in its €240 billion bailout package, where the tax burden is moved from property transfers to ownership. This applies not only to commercial and residential property, but to farms, sports fields and vacant land. Transfer tax revenue is therefore expected to drop in 2014 to only €2.65 billion, compared to the €2.90 generated under the old law. The government plans to cover this shortfall with cuts in investment spending. The beneficiaries of this property market slump are the foreign buyers, who are attracted by lower prices as well as by the lure of residence permits, which are now granted to non-EU investors buying property valued at over €250,000; but not all foreign buyers are going for the more expensive properties. Prices at the end of 2013 had already fallen by 32% since 2008, and they are still falling. This is the second steepest property price decline in the EU after that of Croatia. Greek prices are forecast to drop by another 20% in 2014. A Bank of Greece survey shows an average annual rate of change to residential property prices of -29.9%. Homes are generally on the market for 10 months before being sold at 20% below the asking price. Some Greek real estate agents estimate the decline in property prices to be nearer 50%. With the exception of luxury property and property in the more popular tourist resorts, the quantity of sales has dropped considerably since the market’s peak in 2005. Property analyst Christos Bletas said that in Athens ‘the lack of interest displayed last year… hasn’t been experienced since the second world war.’ Greeks have traditionally seen property as the securest of investments. This is no longer the case, and the sevenfold increase in overall property tax has meant that for many people their home has become a huge financial drain on their diminishing resources. According to the Hellenic Property Federation (POMIDA), which is ‘fighting against the new burdens place upon real estate property owners due to the debt crisis,’ more than 500,000 people want to sell, but around 300,000 residences remain empty—a golden opportunity only for foreign buyers of holiday homes. The biggest buyers are the British and Russians, closely followed by the Germans, Turks and Chinese. However, the Hellenic Realtors Federation has warned that the new taxes could result in a freezing of transactions that would lead to a collapse of the market. Shipping news Greek commercial ship-owners may be among the richest people in the country, but they have traditionally enjoyed special tax concessions on their ships. This is because of the high-risk nature of the business. However, these concessions, which are enshrined in the constitution and have been respected by governments without exception since the 1940s, have now been reviewed as part of the enforced reassessment of the country’s tax laws. Until this year, most of the ship-owners had conformed to an agreement made in 2013 with the Minister of Finance to contribute voluntarily to the country’s finances. Legislation rushed through parliament by Antonis Samaras’ coalition government before Christmas 2013 has now imposed on them a mandatory tripled tonnage tax. The President of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), Theodoros Veniamis, said this was a ‘constitutional deviation’ and that ‘a negative climate has been created for any type of business investment inGreece.’ The ship-owners have said they are willing to wait for the government to reconsider, although in February 2014 the Merchant Marine Minister, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, said that the tax was an emergency three-year measure only. This is not good enough for the UGS, which has threatened to move their fleet abroad and to sail under a foreign flag unless the policy is reconsidered. Unemployment in Greece is now 28%, the highest in the EU. Against a background of economic and social marginalisation, after four years of austerity under the bailout agreement, and facing further fiscal shortfalls in 2014, Prime Minister Samaras is sticking to his guns as far as the ship-owners are concerned. He has refused to make further unpopular spending cuts in other sectors that have already made considerable sacrifices. This decision to demand a greater contribution from one of the richest sectors of the economy has drawn praise from Giorgos Stathakis, the opposition Syriza party shadow minister for development, who called it ‘a positive step’. Vassilis Antoniades, MD of the Boston Consulting Group, which has undertaken a recent study on Greek shipping and the Greek economy, said: ‘The shipping industry is a significant contributor to Greece in terms of jobs, cash and economic activity, and it stands to lose all three if it changes the regime for attracting shipping companies to the country.’ Greek shipping employs around 200,000 people and is estimated to have brought more than €140 billion foreign exchange into Greece over the past decade. The industry accounts for around 7% of the country’s GDP, so there is a real fear of the consequences of the government getting this wrong, even though the policy is justified by the ship-owners wealth and the country’s need.
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Katergorien: Allgemein, Erneuerbare Energien, News in English, Politik, Steuerwesen, Wirtschaft
Keywords: Finanzamt, greece, Griechenland, Hellenic Property Federation, Immobilie, income taxes Greece, POMIDA, property tax, shipping tax, Steuern, Steuerrecht, tax, Tax law
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Enterprise Greece: An initiative to facilitate new investments

Publiziert am 10.März.2014 von Abraam Kosmidis

The primary concern for the Greek government is to put country’s economy back on track. The Officials are more than interested in finding ways not only to maintain the existing investments, but also to appeal and to support new ones. The government is making every effort to encourage its international trade collaborations and to boost even further the investment environment in Greece. Greece must surpass all the bureaucratic practices of the past which did not let the investments to rise. The present hard times demand a new flexible working environment. In order to achieve the above goal, the government has launched some measures: it proposed the new investment law which allows businesses to start up within a day (see the article of 28 February 2014: Starting up a business in Greece within a day’). The last few months, it focuses on reviewing the existing exports procedures and processes followed by the exporting companies of the country. The exports policy reform is considered to be another major step towards the creation of a stable investment environment in Greece. First of all, it was necessary for a National Exports Strategy to be established. In the recent past, there had been taken some few reluctant actions for creating the “National Strategy for Trading Facilitation (NSTF)” in Greece. The efforts to create a thorough exports strategy have become more intense the last two years (the crisis made clear that an extroverted exports approach is the pillar of the Greek economy – along with tourism). The Greek NSTF is based upon the examples of other countries such as England, Austria and Holland which have applied successfully similar kind of strategies. The NSTF aims to simplify all the pre-customs and customs procedures related to the exports trading, thus reducing the time and administrative costs for the exporting companies. Export Trading becomes more favorable for investors either they come from Greece or even from abroad. More particularly, foreign investors will be interested in investing in Greece, because from now on the country’s legislative framework allows them to easily export anything produced by their investment. The initiative to form a National Exports Strategy must have taken place long time ago as Greece has a great advantage due to its geographical location and it may become the hub for the region’s international trade. The officials expect to achieve the following objectives, after the NSTF is implemented

Reduction of the number of days needed to export by 50% by 2015
Reduction of the export cost by 20% by 2015

The key presupposition to implement the National Exports Strategy is the formation of a governmental supervisory body (political level), called the “Co-ordination Committee of the National Strategy for Trading Facilitation (CCNSTF). This committee is formed with the participation of the following ministries: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Development and Competiveness, and Ministry of Rural Development. The European Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will be invited to hold an advisory role. The purpose of this committee is to make sure that the principles of the NSTF are followed, and to provide the necessary support and guidance to a body called the Operational Steering Committee for Trade Facilitation -OSC (operational level). The OSC will operate under the supervision of CCNSTF and it will be set up with the participation of the above mentioned ministries as well as participants coming from the following business unions: Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, Panhellenic Exporters Association, Greek International Business Association, Exporters Association of Crete, Hellenic Company of Logistics and Greek Federation of Customs Brokers Associations. The Committee will have to monitor and underline the progress done during the implementation of the National Strategy for Trade Facilitation. It must also coordinate and supervise all the involved parties (ministries, business unions, exporters). It can come up with suggestions to improve the efficiency of the NSTF. In addition to the Operational Steering Committee, the Greek government decided to set up a new entity called “Enterprise Greece”. This new company will function supplementary with the OSC, in order to enhance the effort for extroverted entrepreneurship in Greece. The responsibilities of the “Enterprise Greece” are to:

Support the Greek investments in markets from abroad
Provide information and advice to the interested investors from abroad on the legislative framework that rules the investments in Greece.
Look into the markets of other countries in order to inform the business unions and investors.
Provide support and advice to investors who wish to export to other countries.
Organize promotion campaigns for goods and products produced in Greece.
Cooperate with international trade institutions to form a common trade policy.
Make suggestions regarding the improvement of the legislative framework for the exports or the investments in Greece.
Cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organize the business visits of the President of the Hellenic Republic, the Prime Minister and the ministers to other countries.

The law bill was voted by the Greek parliament on 26 February 2014. The new entity is expected to start functioning on 1 April 2014, but its full operation will begin on 1 October 2014. There is a strong political will to reverse the prevailing conditions that ruled the investments so far. Greece needs radical structural reforms, if it wishes to return on the road of development. There are mainly two points that the government may focus on in order to bring the country in developmental orbit: appeal new investments and improve performances of exports. The new investment law is the first of a series of actions towards this direction. The creation of the entity “Enterprise Greece” is the second one – together with the implementation of National Strategy for Trade Facilitation. The government hopes that the NSTF and the “Enterprise Greece” will be a major tool for the boost of the economy, as they both set a stable and friendly environment for the investors – exporters. They both promote the extroverted “climate” that is cultivated in Greece.
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Katergorien: Allgemein, News in English, Politik, Wirtschaft
Keywords: business in Greece, economic crisis Greece, enterprise greece, greece, Griechenland, investment Greece, structural reforms Greece, Strukturreformen Griechenland, Wirtschaft Griechenland
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