Sachinidis says ex-Finance Minister Papathanasiou should quit ELPE
Former Finance Minister Filippos Sachinidis, who is an MP with PASOK, called on Friday for one of his predecessors, Yiannis Papathanasiou, to step down as president of Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) just a day after he was appointed.
Sachinidis said that Papathanasiou’s record in office meant he was unsuitable for such a position.
Papathanasiou was finance minister in 2009, when Greece’s public deficit veered out of control, even though Greece had informed the European Commission just days before the October national elections that the shortfall would not exceed 6 percent of GDP.
“Mr Papathanasiou has huge political responsibilities for deceiving our European partners, something our country paid a huge price for,” said Sachinidis.
“I call on the government to ask him to resign immediately.”
