Greek industrialists yesterday openly called into question the government’s credibility in fostering a favorable climate for private enterprise. Federation of Greek Industries (SEV) President Odysseas Kyriakopoulos told the National Competitiveness Council meeting that the government’s abolition of a tax-free reserve was an “unpleasant surprise,” and that “credibility is built slowly but may collapse instantly.” He urged attending Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas to intervene directly to save “the sole investment incentive.” He also noted that hospitals owe healthy firms huge sums of money, to which Sioufas retorted that responsibility for them lies with the previous government, and urged SEV “to do something” about productivity and competitiveness. “This cannot be only the objective of workers and the public sector,” he said.

The EU Commission is considering asking Greece to return a further 42 million euros of subsidies for the National Land Register, in addition to the 57.9 million already returned due to failure to achieve progress, EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner stated yesterday. Delays in proceeding with the project have forced the Commission to reclaim funds, as only 7 percent of the target had been met by end-2003. The commissioner even implied that interest may also be due, saying “the Commission will decide about the measures it will take about interest stemming from the amount of the joint-funding of the project.” She also ruled out any further involvement by the Commission in funding the land register project. The subsidies were granted under the Second Community Support Framework for the 1994-1999 period.

As many as 2000 small and medium-sized trading enterprises will benefit for the first time from the allocation of 200 million euros by the Development Ministry through the EU-subsidized “Competitiveness” program, Minister Dimitris Sioufas announced yesterday. This will allow small companies to upgrade their environs, proceed to technological and organizational modernization and fund their entry networks through franchising. The program will be supervised by the General Secretariat for Commerce and realized by the Hellenic Organization of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Handicraft (EOMMEX).

The pilots union at Olympic Airlines yesterday filed a complaint with the country’s Competition Commission against an attempt by rival Aegean Airlines to acquire the Greek flag-carrier. Should privately owned Aegean take over Olympic Airlines, it could create a monopoly of airline services in Greece at the expense of consumers, the union said in the letter of complaint made available to the media. It called on the competition authority to consider the issue and take action if required. The government has launched a fresh attempt to privatize Olympic Airlines and its ground-handling and technical services in December. It expects to receive binding bids this month. Aegean Airlines last month said it put in a non-binding offer. Five companies are reportedly in the running. (Reuters)