A much-needed injection of 500 million euros for Greek small and medium-sized enterprises will not be delivered before September, though the European Investment Bank and three Greek lenders have agreed by contract to the funding since last year.
In recent negotiations regarding the funding, the Greek side avoided a drachma clause on which the EIB had insisted, allowing for National, Alpha and Pancritia banks to begin receiving the funds from September in order to distribute them to cash-starved SMEs.
A Guarantee Fund for SMEs is also set to be created under the same terms, using 500 million euros of European Union subsidies that through EIB leveraging will amount to 1.4 billion euros. According to the timetable drawn up by the government, the first 600 million euros should be disbursed by January 2013, as the contracts with four banks have to be signed first for them to pass the cash on to the market.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition partners, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis of Democratic Left, are to meet at 8.30 p.m. for the third attempt in less than...
As Greece’s coalition leaders struggled to solve a dispute over the closure of state broadcaster ERT on Wednesday, troika envoys said they were leaving Athens for a “pause,” noting that “imp...
New PAOK coach Huub Stevens has called for unity among fans after taking charge of the Greek club whose players said they feared for their lives last season because of regular protests.
Gree...
Greek canoeing champion Andreas Kiligkardis died on Wednesday after losing his battle against leukemia.
The 37-year-old had been in a coma since last Tuesday at a hospital in Poland - where ...
The people of this country need to see their politicians start producing real, tangible results. One of the leading factors behind the anger and frustration felt by so many Greeks toward the...
There is no room for ego trips and personal whims when the country’s survival is at stake. The three party leaders who agreed just a year ago to join forces in order to govern the country mu...
