Around the horn in Greece - news and articles for Friday and Saturday - July 13th and 14th !

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_14/07/2012_452109

Most Greeks want bailout renegotiation

Nearly three-quarters of Greeks say the country’s new coalition government led by Antonis Samaras must insist on a renegotiation of the terms of Greece’s international loan agreement, a poll by MRB for Real News newspaper showed.
Of those surveyed, 73.9 percent said the coalition should insist on discussing the terms even if such talks lead to the danger of Greece leaving the euro area, according to an excerpt of the poll published on Saturday on the web site of Athens-based Real News.
That compared with 15.5 percent who said the government should accept the current terms of Greece’s bailout, according to the newspaper.

and.....

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_7207_14/07/2012_452112

Heat wave creates power failures, wildfires Power cuts across several districts in Athens, such as Kypseli and Pangrati, and wildfires in a number of areas around Greece made the impact of the heat wave even worse for Greeks on Saturday. Public Power Corporation (PPC) reported that several areas in the capital had gone off the system due to the huge increase in electricity demand for the use of air conditioning systems. Temporary power cuts were reported at Ano Kypseli, Vyronas and Pangrati as well as other neighborhoods in Athens. With temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius, the Attica fire service had to tackle fires at Papagou, Keratea and on Mount Hymettus. However, the most important blaze of the day was at the urban forest of Thessaloniki, Sheikh Shu, that according to sources started from a cigarette. Dozens of fire fighters were still trying to put it under control on Saturday afternoon. Other wildfires that were put under control were reported on Crete and Rhodes. The former was at Arkalochori, near Iraklio, and the latter at Kattavia.

http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2012/7/13/greece-flails-about-troika-inspectors-paint-awful-picture-me.html

FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 AT 6:24PM

The new Greek finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, until recently a professor of economics at the University of Athens, hasn’t learned yet the art of extortion that is required to accomplish anything at all during negotiations with the Eurozone. And so, when he went to the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers earlier this week at the Eurogroup—which serves as political control over the common currency—he accomplished absolutely nothing. He wasn’t even able, unlike his predecessors, to get himself into the media with some wild threat about a “disorderly default” or destroying the entire Eurozone if he didn’t get what he wanted.

He had two big jobs to do: one, promote Greece’s efforts to renegotiate (“water down” is the technical term) the structural reforms that the prior government had agreed to in writing by signing the bailout memorandum; and two, push for a two-year delay of these watered-down conditions. At the same time, he’d have to make sure Greece would continue to receive the flow of bailout billions from taxpayers elsewhere.

But roundly ignored at the Eurogroup meeting, he returned empty handed to Greece. A fiasco for him. In a meeting with leaders of the three-party coalition government—the conservative New Democracy, the socialist PASOK, and the small Democratic Left— Evangelos Venizelos, PASOK leader, former finance minister, and extortionist par excellence, was apparently furious with him and hollowed out his power. The infighting begins.

Time is running out for Greece. Completely dependent on bailout payments to keep its finances from collapsing, Greece is losing ever more support where it counts the most: in Germany. According to the latest poll, 61% of Germans reject giving Greece and other bailed out countries more time to solve their problems. They’ve had enough of the broken promises. They’ve become so bitter about the whole process that, according to another poll, 58% of Germans want their Deutsche Mark back, up from 39% in 2010.

And what had to happen, finally happened: for the first time, an important component of German industry, the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) demanded that Greece leave the Eurozone “if it cannot, or does not want to, stick to its agreements.” German industry, which has benefitted from the euro and what amounted to a bailout of its customers in other countries, had been a staunch supporter of the euro, the bailouts, and keeping the Eurozone intact. But bailout funds, such as the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), should not be used to fund structural deficits, the organization said. And so it stepped up its support for Chancellor Angela Merkel and encouraged her to hold the line on Greece.

Merkel came out swinging. She would not tolerate that the bailout memorandum that contained the agreed-upon structural reforms would be watered down though she might be willing to delay implementation by “a few weeks”—not the two years the Greek government is seeking. Her spokesman Steffen Seibert was even firmer: “Neither the content nor the time frame of the memorandum is up for debate,” he said. Greece must “make great exertions.”  

But that’s precisely what has not been happening. Inspectors of the “Troika”—the EU Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, the entities that have agreed to bail out Greece under certain “conditions”—were back in Athens earlier in July to review Greece’s books, check on progress of the agreed-upon structural reforms, and meet with government officials, all in order to determine if these certain “conditions” have been met. The inspectors already expected the worst, after a three-month hiatus while Greece was embroiled in political turmoil and two elections, an interregnum during which nothing was implemented.

Apparently, it was even worse. Elements of their preliminary and still unpublished report due by the end of July seeped out: it painted an “awful picture”; of the 300 specific measures to be implemented by now, 210 were completely ignored and left by the wayside. This is the report that the Troika will use in deciding whether or not to send the next bailout tranche to Greece. And without this money, Greece will have to default and most likely exit the Eurozone.

Germany itself is embroiled in disagreement over the endless bailouts, and their two crucial future mechanisms: the ESM bailout fund and the fiscal union pact. Cobbled together after hectic summits with dog and pony shows designed to soothe edgy markets, they’re now in the hands of the German Constitutional Court—and these are the options. Read.... Will the Euro Survive This Year?

and without the threat of power cuts , will taxes be paid ........

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_27951_14/07/2012_452088

Kouvelis: No power cuts for property tax

Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis stressed that power supply should never get cut for people who have not paid their special property tax -- included in the electricity bill for this year, too -- speaking on state television NET on Saturday morning.
As reports converge to the insistence of Greece’s creditors for the government to maintain the system of property tax payment that last year fetched even more money than anticipated, Public Power Corporation has once again undertaken to collect the levy on all structures with electricity supply, although this year the threat of power supply cut is removed after a recent court decision against it.
Kouvelis, one of the party leaders supporting the coalition government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, refrained from confirming PPC’s precise involvement in the tax collection as yet, but underscored that everyone should have their power supply, thereby banishing any thoughts the PPC might find a loophole to enforce the payment through power cut threats.
“What is currently being discussed is whether this tax will be incorporated in the electricity bill or form a separate pay notice to the PPC bill. I am saying this given that it is one thing having your supply cut – and that should not happen and will not happen – and quite another the burden of this tax,” said Kouvelis.
“An effort is currently underway based on specific data for us to deal with the scaling of this tax that will be proportionate to the taxpayer’s capacity to pay it,” he added.
Deputy Development Minister Notis Mitarakis told Skai television that the government is not able to abolish this tax yet, but has pledged to do away with it from next year. He added that PPC will have to act as the law provides.
“PPC will implement the law and the government may make some arrangements. So far there has been no legislative intervention for the property tax of 2012. If there is a new arrangement, and there will have to be a special settlement for sensitive social groups, PPC will apply the law the Parliament will vote,” said Mitarakis.

Some reports suggest the tax will not be paid in five instalments, as originally planned for this year, but in two, as last year. The budget provides for revenues of 2.2 billion euros from this tax this year. and more backtracking by the pols on the property tax - do you believe they won't cut electricity off again..... Property tax via PPC bills again By Chryssa Liaggou The government has decided that the special property tax introduced in 2011 will be tagged on to electricity bills again this year after all, according to Public Power Corporation (PPC) officials. After repeated meetings and the realization that the Finance Ministry will be unable to collect the sum of 2.2 billion euros corresponding to the emergency tax, the government resorted to the more secure but painful solution of collecting the tax through PPC, despite earlier indications that this would not be the case this year. Up until yesterday the Finance Ministry had said that it was looking for the best way to collect the so-called special extraordinary tax for all properties connected to the power grid, though officials at the power company suggested that the decision had already been made. In fact, PPC said that it had been asked to include the tax in all bills issued as of July 23, but the company countered that it did not have the time to issue bills with the tax before the end of the month. Unlike last year, when the tax was paid in two installments, this year’s tax will be paid in five installments, with the last two to due in 2013. http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/9/56973 ( watch the poll numbers come September )  Poll says new government can't solve country issues 14 Jul 2012 The government will find it hard to win the public over, with 66% of those asked saying Greece is the wrong path (Eurokinissi) Most Greeks believe the new government driven by Antonis Samaras, is unable to resolve the country's problems, a poll found on Thursday. The poll by Public Issue for Skai TV and theKathimerini daily found 51 percent of Greeks believe the government is unable to tackle their country's problems, against 47 percent who think it can. Sixty-six percent of those surveyed said Greece was on the wrong path. Only 23 percent said things were going well. Forty percent were not satisfied with the election result, the poll found. Only four percent said they were "very satisfied" and 33 percent that they were "a little" satisfied. But 45 percent said they viewed the government in a positive light, while 43 percent had a negative impression of it. Internal rifts have emerged over the coalition's stance on renegotiating the bailout and it faces an emboldened Syriza opposition led by Alexis Tsipras. However, the poll found 56 percent of Greeks had a negative view of the opposition and only 31 percent a positive view. The poll by Public Issue for Skai TV and the Kathimerini daily was carried out nationwide between July 5 and 10. (Reuters) and ND going to become unpopular real fast with the unions.... http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/9/56974 Steelworkers point finger at Adonis Georgiadis 14 Jul 2012 According to the steelworkers, Georgiadis is the man driving the "strikebreaking mechanism" (file photo) The striking workers of the Hellenic Halyvourgia steelworks have identified New Democracy MP Adonis Georgiadis as the man responsible for guiding the "strikebreaking machine" that ultimately contributed to the escalation of the conflict between the steelworks management and its striking workers. In a written statement released on Friday, the Hellenic Steelworks Employee Committee "Unity" notes that while "we were intensifying our efforts to meet with the Labour ministry and factory management to faciliate the re-hiring of those fellow workers that had been fired as well the return of the factory to working conditions, Mr. Georgiadis was spotted near the factory premises". They go on to note that "Mr. Georgiadis is now recognised as the person guiding the strikebreaking mechanism, promising strikebreakers that he will intervene on their behalf against the heroic striking steelworkers". According to the steelwrokers, "it is evident that these are the practices the new government will seek to use in all areas of labour struggle", also pointing accusatory fingers towards the media, who according to the "Unity" statement, have used slander and propaganda to portray the efforts of the striking steelworkers in a negative light.  Earlier in the week, the owners of the Hellenic Halyvourgia steelworks, where workers have been on strike since October, had said they will shut down the plant.  Under the redundancy deal, which the company is expected to file with the labour ministry in the coming weeks, workers at Aspropyrgos will be offered positions at Volos. This offer, however, will not be extended to the workers who were fired after employees voted to accept a 4p percent pay cut. (AthensNews) and Greece most concerned about food security as they understand how close to starving they are......... http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/56970 Food production concerns 94% of Greeks 13 Jul 2012 Greeks are Europe's most concerned citizens when it comes to food security Greeks are the most concerned in Europe about national food security, a recent survey conducted by Eurobarometer shows. The report, entitled “Europeans’ attitudes towards food security, food quality and the countryside”, reveals that 94 per cent of Greeks are concerned about national food security, more than twice the EU average (43%). Particularly low levels of concern are noticed in the Netherlands (11%) and Denmark (11%). Greece also stands out as the only EU country where the majority of respondents are very concerned about food safety (61%), with the EU average being 15 per cent. Levels of concern about national food production are strongly related to those about EU production. 79 per cent of Greek respondents are concerned about EU food security. The report, published on July 6 for the European Commission, shows that concerns about national and EU food production vary according to education levels and the economic status of respondents. The less educated and financially secure the participants are, the more concerned they seem about food production at national and EU level. Respondents are divided in their attitudes towards food quality and prices. The majority agree that these two factors are more important than origin and brand. However, product origin is of great concern to Greeks, 90 per cent of whom claimed it is an important factor, as opposed to the UK, where only 52 per cent of respondents said that origin is of importance. The majority of EU citizens agree that the EU should step up its food production to reduce dependence on imports (81%) and that it should do more to help other countries increase their production (84%).