Stathakis sacrifices DEPA chief who resisted pre-election hirings

The government on Thursday forced the departure of the chief executive officer of the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), Dimitris Tzortzis.

This marked a new zenith in tensions between the Energy Ministry and the utility's management concerning the "labor issue" that started with the processing of the plan for breaking up and privatizing the company, and the personal pledge of minister Giorgos Stathakis to make 140 contract workers at the corporation permanent.

Worried about the impact of the management's recourse to justice against the strike that is now in its third week, and with the general election just over five weeks away, Stathakis asked Tzortzis to resign on Thursday.

The lawsuit against the strike was filed by two contractor companies, on the orders of DEPA, according to a statements by the Pan Hellenic Energy Federation.

Stathakis is also blaming...