Birthday wishes, the founder & the leaders of ND, PASOK’s tight contest & the desertion of SYRIZA, the struggles of National Bank & the joy of lawyers

Greetings! So, these past few days I read in Proto Thema and on protothema.gr the excellent commemorative piece by Panos Loukakos, marking 50 years of New Democracy, which is being celebrated today. The highly engaging novel-like text on the 50 years of New Democracy naturally focuses on its founder, Konstantinos Karamanlis, and the chosen title is a quote from him: “Am I the right-winger? And who are the leftists?” referring to a series of actions of national benefit and reconciliation that he took during his premiership, especially in the early period. The truth is, many years have passed with good and bad moments and periods for New Democracy, and even more difficult ones for PASOK. Perhaps over at PASOK, things might be even tougher, or maybe better times are coming—we’ll know in two weeks after the two elections. A little restraint and decency wouldn’t hurt…

A little bit of moderation and decorum…

– Now, to lighten things up a bit, because for me personally, this only brings a slight smirk, the ongoing soap opera of whether Karamanlis and Samaras would attend or not, continued until last night. To be honest, these two men, who have both served as leaders of New Democracy and as Prime Ministers, don’t even follow the basic rules of common courtesy (you don’t even need to be a bourgeois for this), which is to simply say whether you will attend or not. Dude, even if they had invited you to a christening, or to dinner, you would respond! Instead, in their little microcosms, they create a supposed “mystique” of “will he go? Will he not go? Will this one or the other attend?” – just to delude themselves into thinking everyone’s talking about them. Anyway, happy anniversary to New Democracy and some better thinking to its current leadership; we always need a kind word but also a critical eye, especially when we have this (nonexistent) opposition.

What the street party will include

– Now, apart from the psychodrama of the two ex-leaders, the mobilization for the street party is massive, and obviously, many organized New Democracy supporters will attend. A video showcasing key moments of the party will be shown, with New Democracy members speaking before Mitsotakis’ speech. There will also be a DJ playing music (including songs from the Blue Generation, among others) and a stand for casual drinks after K.M.’s speech. As of last night, parking on Rigillis Street was banned so that the final preparations could take place today. On behalf of New Democracy, the event was organized by the party’s general manager Giannis Smyrlis, and from Maximos Mansion, the Communications Director Kyra Kapi.

PASOK

– So, I see quite a buzz around me, with not only PASOK members planning to vote, but many others as well, though my PASOK buddy always tells me, “You right-wingers always say you’ll vote, but in the end… you forget.” However, when I ask pollsters, most of them talk about high turnout and close numbers for the four candidates. We’ll see…

SYRIZA

– In contrast to the excitement of the “green wave” ahead of Sunday’s polls, over at SYRIZA, things have fizzled out, with their presence limited to gossip on morning shows and “Pen Ntalaoura” on X. My source tells me they conducted a poll and couldn’t find a large enough SYRIZA sample to measure. “We had to increase the usual 1,100 calls to 2,000 just to find 168 SYRIZA supporters,” they told me, which is about 8%. Alright, let’s wait and see because SYRIZA isn’t making headlines right now.

Embassy chit-chat

– Lots of people yesterday in Halandri at the ambassador’s residence, where the German embassy in Athens held its annual celebration for the anniversary of reunification. There was plenty of chatter, mostly among journalists and business people, as half the government was absent, accompanying Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Evros. Present there were Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Fragogiannis and ND MP Thanos Plevris, among others, who queued up for beer, wine, pretzels, and sausages with sauerkraut. The ambassador, Andreas Kindl, who speaks excellent Greek, announced a significant German visit before the end of the year. Meanwhile, in the small talk, people were discussing the fate of Germany’s collapsing three-party government, which is affecting Europe.

They “bled” to close at 7.55 euros

– Thankfully, common sense prevailed, they considered the broader impact on the stock market, and the share price for the placement was set at 7.55 euros. During yesterday’s session, they “bled” to keep National Bank’s stock closing at 7.55 euros. If a market rumor is true – that Greek individual investors took 75% of the shares they signed up for – then we have sales ahead of us.

Kypriotis losing the battle

– Crucial developments in the case of loans by G. Kypriotis & Sons S.A.. On 30.9.2024, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tempus Holdings 97, a subsidiary of H.I.G. Capital Advisors LLC, accepting the appeals filed by the creditor banks Eurobank and Piraeus against G. Kypriotis & Sons S.A., in which Tempus 97 intervened through the loan management company Do Value. These appeals challenged the Dodecanese Court of Appeal’s rulings that had judged the loan terminations by G. Kypriotis as abusive. Simultaneously, the Athens Multi-Member Court rejected Kypriotis’ claim that the transfers of these loans from the creditor banks to Tempus 97 were invalid due to being against good morals. These decisions seem to tip the scales heavily in favor of Tempus 97 in the dispute.

OTE eyes new markets

– Nearly three months after the administrative change at OTE, the new CEO, Kostas Nebis, during his second digital communication with the group’s employees (the first was right after he took over), provided a clear outline of the strategy the management will follow in the coming years. Looking ahead to 2030, he laid out the roadmap for OTE to become one of Europe’s top telecommunications providers, as he said. This effort will be based on three pillars – revenue growth, transformation, and diversification – which the organization will focus on. Particularly noteworthy was the mention that in the area of networks, the goal remains to cover two-thirds of the country’s lines with fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) by 2027, with an emphasis on transitioning the majority of the customer base to FTTH. Simultaneously, in the services sector (such as COSMOTE Insurance, Box, Payzy), and in other markets, OTE’s CEO did not rule out possible expansions.

Reshuffles at Coca-Cola

– It’s not unusual for Coca-Cola 3E executives in Greece to deliver results quickly and effectively, leading to promotions to other leadership positions within the multinational. Now, it’s Maria Anargyrou-Nikolic’s turn to follow this “tradition.” She took the helm of Coca-Cola 3E in Greece and Cyprus in September 2020. It was during the pandemic, yet she delivered positive results, and according to reliable sources, she’s headed to Switzerland, where she’ll take over the management of Hotels, Restaurants, and Catering activities across the 29 countries where Coca-Cola Europe operates. As for the General Management of Coca-Cola 3E in Greece and Cyprus, if our information is correct, it will be taken over by an executive from Coca-Cola Bulgaria.

Thessaloniki’s metro can start issuing tickets from now

– The countdown has begun for the inauguration of the Thessaloniki Metro at the end of next month. The project contractor, AKTOR, has already completed and delivered its contractual obligation to create a modern ticketing system. The system has been delivered, submitted, and has successfully passed all necessary tests. It is now on standby, ready to begin operation with the inauguration on November 30.

ELINOIL, fuel oil in Gibraltar, and the increase in borrowing

– A few months ago, ELINOIL made a move that went somewhat unnoticed but is proving to be strategic. In an effort to offset losses from other sectors in the domestic market, it expanded abroad into the fuel oil market by leasing storage facilities in Spain, particularly in the Gibraltar area, aiming to increase fuel oil sales in the West African market. This decision has already generated new sales in new markets, contributing to the first half’s results, and management estimates that its contribution to second-half revenues will be even greater. ELINOIL’s leadership also identified another issue in the market and sought solutions. As outlined in the company’s financial results, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the escalation of EU sanctions on Russia affecting both crude oil and products, have created, aside from difficulties, conditions of unfair competition with rival companies that unlawfully or illegally distribute Russian-origin products at very low prices. In any case, this investment is already showing returns, though in the first half, total borrowing (mainly short-term loans) more than doubled due to the high working capital needs.

The…joy of lawyers

– The legal dispute between the municipality of Elefsina and Halyvourgiki over tens of thousands of euros in unpaid municipal taxes and fees from past years has turned into a lawyer’s delight. This “saga” has been ongoing for years as the Angelopoulos family company, now lacking any other activity, has embarked on a battle to dispute these charges, while the municipality of Elefsina is trying to collect what it believes is owed. Specifically, the company filed two appeals in the past before the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal against the imposition of municipal taxes and fees for the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021. Regarding the first of these appeals, rulings were published in 2022, rejecting Halyvourgiki’s claims about the municipal fees of 924,662.91 euros and 912,078.90 euros respectively, but accepting the claims concerning the municipal tax amounts of 75,035.62 euros and 110,325.91 euros respectively. The Court, in other words, ruled that the company owed the municipal fees but did not owe the two sums of the municipal tax. Consequently, in 2023, following an order from the municipality, annulment applications were filed before the Council of State. According to a related document from the municipality, “these cases are considered of major importance for the interests of the municipality as the disputed amounts reach 75,035.62 euros for the first case and 110,325.91 euros for the second.” The two annulment applications have been scheduled to be heard at the beginning of October before the Second Division of the Council of State. As you can understand, all these legal actions require the enlistment of lawyers, whose fees in such cases start at 3,000 euros and can exceed 6,000 euros.

Motor Oil to brief analysts

– Soon, Motor Oil’s management will present to analysts the real financial and production impact of the fire at the Agioi Theodoroi Refinery, the extraordinary taxation, and its overall financial outlook. Recently, Motor Oil had increased production at its refineries and boosted exports, but then unexpected events occurred, requiring a reorientation.

Athens’ two worst avenues (due to traffic)

– The issue of infrastructure and city mobility, considering the new projects currently underway across Athens, was extensively discussed at the 5th Institutional Management Conference by Dimitris Andriopoulos, CEO of DIMAND, and Aristotelis Karytinos, CEO of Prodea. First example: in the north, Marousi, which is currently attracting very large new investments with large office complexes being constructed, yet there is no comprehensive traffic study to determine how workers will flow into Kifissias Avenue. Second example: in the south, Poseidonos Avenue, with the under-construction Hellinikon project and other major investments, such as the newly operational One & Only at the former Asteria. For a recent event of a large company with 500 participants, D. Andriopoulos said it took him 1 hour and 40 minutes to drive from the north and another half-hour to park… “There needs to be more interaction between investors and the state to protect private investments,” Andriopoulos remarked, “and we investors must cooperate holistically, rather than sporadically, with ministries, municipalities, and regions.” A. Karytinos added that for such a large redevelopment project like Hellinikon, which will create a new modern city within the urban fabric, there should have already been progress on creating a peripheral transport infrastructure to facilitate future traffic flow.

REIC mergers are coming

– In the same discussion, Panagiotis Kapetanakos, CEO of Noval Property REIC, predicted that there will be consolidation in the Real Estate Investment Companies sector in the future, to make the sector more attractive to foreign investors who are looking for large portfolios worth over 1 billion euros: “Our market is shallow and small, and I believe that consolidation will inevitably happen. Greek REICs are small in size, and it’s easier for consolidation to occur than for the market to have 9-10 smaller REICs trying to grow quickly on their own.”

Today will be a tough day

– After five consecutive losing sessions and with the market having exhausted its excitement over the National Bank case, it’s hard to imagine that, in this gray geopolitical environment, there will be eager stock buyers willing to hold on to their portfolios through a crucial wartime weekend. Yesterday’s trading value of €812 million on the Stock Exchange only satisfies the management of HELEX and is obviously due to the transfer of National Bank shares (€586 million) to their new owners. The relief from the sale of National Bank shares at €7.55 didn’t help other bank stocks. National Bank itself was fluctuating between €7.562 (-1.15%) and €7.48 (-2.25%) and ultimately closed exactly at the €7.55 placement price (-1.31%). Piraeus Bank dropped more gently (-0.89%) to €3.687, Eurobank closed with losses of -1.27% at €1.95, and Alpha Bank had no trouble holding on to €1.484 (-0.37%). The Athens stock market is being called upon to prove that it doesn’t survive merely by recycling existing investment capital.

The income gap is widening

– The U.S. economy is running at high speed, but at the same time, the income inequality gap is widening. According to the latest data published by the U.S. Federal Reserve, 17% of American consumers are leaving their bills unpaid. A staggering 36% of lower-income households (with annual family income under $25,000), according to the Fed, failed to pay all their bills. Almost 27% of renters, who do not own property, were unable to fully cover their bills. Specifically, 11% of them didn’t pay for water, gas, or electricity— the highest percentage among all categories. At the same time, credit card interest rates, averaging 16.7%, have led to double the number of unpaid cards compared to last year. The question is, what will be the political choice for all those who today live on the margins of the world’s wealthiest economy?

Birthday grumbles in Germany

– As we mentioned earlier, yesterday Germany celebrated the Day of German Unity, marking the reunification of East and West Germany that changed the landscape of Europe. It was on October 3, 1990, when the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) joined the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) by a decision of the East German parliament (Volkskammer). Today, 34 years later, the assessment of this unified journey shows that the gap between East and West still exists. This is evident in the movement of workers. From 1991 to last year, 2023, about 1.2 million more Germans moved from East to West than the other way around. Among them, 727,000 people aged 18 to 30 decided to leave East Germany to live in the West.

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