Bailout

By Kiel Porter, Aaron Kirchfeld & Marcus Bensasson

Few financiers in London covet a job with a government-owned Greek bank. A glimpse of Pavlos Stellakis’s Bentley or his townhouse in Belgravia might have changed their minds.

Greece will likely require a third bailout package, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem reiterated on Wednesday in an interview on Dutch TV.

Echoing his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble, the Dutch finance minister said that the amount Greece will require and on what level the new assistance will be organized will be discussed during the summer.

The German Finance Ministry attempted on Monday to play down comments by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble that Greece would require a third bailout.

Schaeuble had suggested in an interview with Focus magazine that Greece would need assistance of less than 10 billion euros in the years to come.

Right-wing, anti-bailout party Independent Greeks saw its parliamentary group shrink to 14 on Thursday after MP Vassilis Kapernaros said he would stand as an independent, citing a lack of support from the party for his candidacy as Athens mayor.

Cypriot banking group Bank of Cyprus has sold loans extended to Serbian real estate company Robne Kuce Beograd to Piraeus Bank of Greece, it said on Thursday.

By Eleni Chrepa & Nikos Chrysoloras

The Greek government will bring social security costs for workers below the European Union average for the first time in July when it cuts contributions to the pension and health-care systems, Labor Minister Ioannis Vroutsis said.

By Alexis Papachelas

By Chryssa Liaggou

Public Power Corporation is planning to tap the markets after Easter with the issue of a corporate bond to draw 500 million euros.

The Energy Ministry is also eagerly awaiting the issue, as it is hoping it will enable the full clearance of electricity market debts, which according to the bailout agreement is due by end-2014.

Greece's bank bailout fund received bids from anchor investors, including Canada's Fairfax (FFH.TO) and York Capital, for a big chunk of Eurobank's (EURBr.AT) 2.86 billion euro share offering, a senior banking source close to the talks said on Tuesday.

Cyprus is making a comeback from near bankruptcy although its banks are still struggling with bad loans and political support may be waning for tough measures, an International Monetary Fund report said on Tuesday.