‘Friends’ are clamoring for the largest pieces of the 2004 pie
The Greek business world, according to bankers, is still feeling the effects of the stock market boom of 1999, when those who made easy winnings turned their businesses into gambling houses and set up new firms to exploit the boom. Since the bubble burst, they have been trying to pick up the pieces but their mentality is virtually unchanged. Most have been used to state handouts and have no competitive spirit. Once again, they expect the State to come to their rescue. Using their links to politics, they are demanding loan rescheduling and other banking services and are pressing for funds from the Third Community Support Framework, pestering staff at public enterprises for subsidies and contracts. Now they have discovered the Athens 2004 Olympics, which they see as the fatted calf. Putting pressure According to reliable sources, Athens 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki has been subject to unprecedented pressure lately. Until only recently tolerant, accepting and friendly, the First Lady of 2004 has suddenly found herself besieged by «friends» who see the Games as a continuous source of income capable of plugging financial «black holes.» Officials at 2004 – who, if the truth be said, at first encouraged demands such as these – are saying that they are being inundated daily by a barrage of offers and counter-offers from «friendly» circles who want it all. The same sources told Kathimerini that specific publishing and other interests have recently been pushing to conclude Olympics deals, particularly with the volunteer program, computer technology, publications and, of course, communications. The volunteer program alone provides 200-million-euros worth of work and provides a strong foundation for a number of other jobs and with potential for drawing on considerable resources. Given the above, and as most of the business circles concerned are used to operating on the basis of less than transparent procedures, it is only natural for them to be exerting pressure on Athens 2004, which has not had a clear commitment to conditions of competition. Outright blackmail However, the pressure has been so strong that Angelopoulos-Daskalaki has, in private conversations, spoken about outright blackmail. She has allegedly said that «certain businessmen and their representatives are using unorthodox methods» to obtain commitments on specific projects. According to the same sources, she has reached the point of letting it be known via her associates that she will «under no circumstances give in to blackmail from any quarter, as I do not owe anyone anything.» She expects the worst is still to come, but is not willing to operate in a coercive climate. Yet, those in the know are saying that these stand-offs are likely to lead to a fresh compromise «for the good of the Games» which are likely to cost the Greek people a great deal of money on a doubtful outcome. The feeling now is that since we have assumed the responsibility, let’s not make the country look ridiculous and lose our credibility. It is no coincidence that, under pressure from business circles and political upheaval, the Athens 2004 president has been pressing for an «Olympic moratorium» between political parties so as to avert any insurmountable obstacles in organizing the Games. At any rate, the Olympic Games are not proving to be the opportunity they should have been to rejuvenate the local business community and firmly set it within the international economy. As with so many other things, the Games are at risk of being drawn into the familiar cycle of entangled interests and becoming an arena for dividing up the Greek people’s resources – precisely what both the politicians and Angelopoulos-Daskalaki should be guarding against. It is not enough for her to protest during crises in her relationship with the powers-that-be in this country, but who has a duty to impose, even at this late date, conditions of absolute transparency.
