Vestiges of a golden age are going under the hammer

The unfinished building of Babis Vovos International Construction (BVIC) at 109 Kifissias Avenue in the northern Athens suburb of Maroussi.

They used to be among the protagonists of Greek entrepreneurship, with a powerful presence in industry, construction and retail commerce, and a significant international presence. Yet, overborrowing, poor management and a failure to predict the deterioration of market conditions sent these firms into a tailspin that was followed by the inevitable crash.

In November 2002, George Petzetakis, a major stakeholder in the Petzetakis plastics industry, admitted in a meeting with journalists that the company's troubles stemmed from poor decisions made by the administration; he was CEO at the time. Babis Vovos International Construction (BVIC) never recovered from the 2009 Council of State decision to suspend its construction license for a mall in the central Athens district of Votanikos.

And these are just two among dozens of companies that folded after a spectacular heyday,...

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