Germany owes Greece 278.7 bln in WWII reparations, says minister

Germany owes Greece up to 278.7 billion euros in reparations for WWII, Alternate Minister for Finance Dimitris Mardas (photo) said on Monday.

According to calculations by the General Accounting Office, which has collected archival material examined by experts, some 10.3 billion of that sum corresponds to the forced loan taken by the Nazis, Mardas said.

The rest concerns infrastructure and compensation to private individuals, he said.

Mardas was speaking during a session of the parliamentary committee set up to investigate the reasons of Greece?s debt problem.