KARAMANLIS: The former prime minister “lashed out” in his latest forceful statement from the Megaron Concert Hall.
He did not deviate from his familiar line of argument—as he has been articulating it in recent years—yet the current context of his pointed stance carries its own significance, particularly regarding relations between Athens and Ankara.
The neighbors have begun to escalate tensions in the Aegean once again, and many are predicting a“hot summer,”with Mr. Karamanlis emphatically reiterating his concerns about the government’s“calm waters”policy.
Especially in light of the legislation Erdogan is pushing regarding the “blue homeland,”he called it“outrageous”and emphasized:
“As long as the effort to avoid tensions is misinterpreted as a concession in the exercise of even the slightest of our rights, even in the heart of the Aegean, or absolves Turkey of the burden of its aggressive behavior in the eyes of third parties—hypocritically, of course, because it suits them—the cost becomes disproportionately greater than the supposed benefit sought.”
The former prime minister also had some “barbs” reserved for the inner workings of the New Democracy party. He spoke of “compromises on democratic values that destabilize social cohesion and the value system of the postwar West.”
He referred to “information that, when it serves vested interests or amounts to an overt attempt at manipulation, undermines democracy.”
He focused on “illegal or ostensibly legitimate surveillance that also undermines democracy,” as well as on “manipulation of institutions,” particularly the judiciary.
“How can one be surprised, then, by the explosive rise of anti-establishment tendencies,” he noted pointedly.
KARAMANLIS II: Yesterday’s event at the Megaron Concert Hall for the presentation of the book by K. Arvanitopoulos and K. Filis had a strong Karamanlis flavor, with a hefty dose of… Samaras. Many current and former New Democracy officials accepted the invitation and listened as the former prime minister unleashed his… barbs on Greek-Turkish relations, the rule of law, and the EU.
In the front row, he was applauded by Antonis Samaras, who had spoken in even stronger terms last Friday in Parliament; former New Democracy president Vangelis Meimarakis; former President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos; Achilleas Karamanlis, Kostas A. Karamanlis, Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni, as well as Christos Staikouras, Evripidis Stylianidis, Kostas Skrekas, Maximos Senetakis, Charalambos Athanasiou, Miltos Chrysomallis, George Vlachos, Yannis Valinakis, George Alogoskoufis, and Savvas Tsitouridis.
Antonis Samaras, upon entering the room, was asked about the possibility of forming a new party, but he declined to comment on the matter. All signs, however, point toward this development.
Sunday is just around the corner…
NEW DEMOCRACY: The clock is ticking for the election of the new Secretary of the New Democracy Political Committee, which was established at the party’s convention in mid-May. According to reports, the meeting is scheduled for next Thursday, June 4, though it remains unclear who will succeed Kostas Skrekas.
The most likely scenario is that the new Secretary will come from the New Democracy parliamentary group; however, some in the party leadership do not rule out the possibility that the acting secretary, Stelios Kontadakis, Secretary of Organization and a close associate of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, remaining in the position.
Also high on the list of rumors are the names of Artas MP George Stylianou and Dodecanese MP Yiannis Pappas.
EDUCATION: Anyone with children knows the financial burden this places on Greek families, largely negating the benefits of the much-touted “free education.”
A comment on social media prompted us to take a closer look at how we compare to our European neighbors .
Not that we didn’t expect it, but the data is pretty depressing.
According to data published by Eurostat about a year ago, Greece, which ranks last in terms of its citizens’ purchasing power, not only lags behind in how much the state spends on education, but is also the leader in… private spending.
On average, public spending on education in the EU amounted to 4.6% of GDP. In Greece, it was 3.4%, the third-lowest figure, after Romania and Croatia.
Even more striking, however, is that the state’s share of total education funding was just 65%, the lowest in the entire EU, resulting in our country, along with Cyprus, ranking at the… top in terms of private spending.
EDUCATION II: Not at all surprising, you might say, in a country where there is no longer a single child who does not attend tutoring classes—not merely “to get into university, ” but systematically, for years on end, even if they attend the most expensive private schools.
But there are other unpleasant realities concerning higher—university—education.
According to Eurostat, based on 2022 data—just like in previous years—Greece stands out as an exception across Europe.
The lowest expenditure per student is not recorded among younger age groups, but in universities. In our country, expenditure per student in higher education was just 2,795 euros, while the EU average was 12,162 euros.
And as if that weren’t enough, direct financial aid to students was practically symbolic: €20 per student in Greece, compared to… €1,766 on average in the EU. In Denmark, to provide a point of comparison, this aid amounted to €8,024.
EDUCATION III: One might expect this situation to have improved in the intervening years.
There are no recent figures from Eurostat, but a comparison of budget and GDP figures between 2022 and 2026 shows that spending on education increased much less than GDP did.
It also accounts for a smaller share of the national budget: about 8% today, compared to 8.6% in 2022!
However, we have gained private universities, as well as a steady stream of—mainly foreign—investments in the private education sector more broadly, which means they are considered internationally“attractive” for future profitability.
P.S.: Which countries in the EU actually have free education? Primarily the northern European countries, with Finland leading the way. That is, the countries that are genuinely striving to expand young people’s knowledge in this age of technology and innovation. They don’t just talk about it. They put it into practice!
FAIS: The FAIS Group is undergoing an internal restructuring in the sporting goods sector, with ELSOL absorbing E-Tennis Marousi.
The latter, which operates in tennis retail, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ELSOL, meaning that the merger will not result in any change to the acquiring company’s share capital.
TECHNOLOGY: New entry in data centers and digital infrastructure. The company in question is PTOLEMAIDA DC IKE, established with headquarters in Agia Paraskevi and a scope of operations ranging from database development and cloud services to energy projects and electricity generation from photovoltaics. The company was established with a nominal capital of just 2 euros, with DRAGOSTA Energy and Mount Vernon as shareholders, while Eleftherios Kalogiannis was appointed as manager.
KERTSIKOV: Agro Benitses Single-Member S.A., with a capital of 1 million euros, has Kerkyra Capital as its sole shareholder, headed by the well-known Errikos Kertsikov, who also assumes the role of chairman and CEO of the new company.
Although the share capital is set at €1 million, 25%—or €250,000—is initially paid upon incorporation, with the remainder to be paid within five years.
CREDIABANK: Taking the baton from Sarantis is taken by the bank’s stock in the FTSE 25, as announced yesterday by Euronext Athens as part of its semi-annual review.
CrediaBank takes 19th place in the ranking with a 30% weighting. For its part, Sarantis is being moved to the Mid Capindex with a 40% weighting.
The rebalancing will take place at the close of trading on Friday, June 12, and the changes will take effect on the 22nd of the same month.
ADMIE: The market seems to have decided to view ADMIE’s capital increase not as… dilution, but as a ticket to the next phase of growth.
And this was reflected in the market: The stock has risen by approximately 20.8% over the last four trading sessions, as investors appear to be pricing in the expectation that the €6 billion plan will radically alter the size and characteristics of the Operator.
As management has explained, the €1 billion increase will finance three major projects: the Dodecanese and North Aegean interconnections and the second Greece-Italy line.
And that is where the market is factoring in management’s projections through 2029. He spoke of annual profit growth of 25%-30%, more than doubling the Regulated Asset Base to approximately €7 billion, and one of the fastest growth rates among European network operators.
DEH: The debut of the shares resulting from the successful capital increase—which, as a reminder, was priced at €18.63—was accompanied by a rise and trading volume of €112.7 million.
The stock opened down 2.26% at €20.72, but buyers quickly gained the upper hand, driving the stock up to €21.96 (+€3.58).
The closing price of €21.48 represents a 1.32% increase .
ALLWYN: An attempt is underway to break away from the year’s lows for the stock, which yesterday completed its second consecutive session of gains, with strong gains and trading volume of €7.5 million.
The stock closed at €12.68, up 4.11%, very close to the high reached during yesterday’s session.
GEK TERNA: The Board of Directors of GEK TERNA is proposing to shareholders the adoption of a 24-month share buyback program up to 10% of the paid-in share capital, with a minimum price of €0.57 and a maximum of €80 per share.
These treasury shares may be used in all ways permitted by the legal framework.
Additionally, the Board of Directors of the listed company is asking shareholders to authorize it for a period of five years so that it may decide on a capital increase and/or the issuance of a convertible bond, with the option to restrict or eliminate preemptive rights. The authorization pertains to the issuance, on each occasion, of up to 15,513,493 new shares (i.e., up to 15% of the par value).
According to the Board of Directors, the decision will provide the necessary flexibility for the company to capitalize on the significant investment opportunities it expects to arise in the sectors in which it operates (infrastructure, concessions, and energy).
It also reminds shareholders that the overwhelming majority of companies operating in the infrastructure and energy sectors provide their boards of directors with similar flexibility, which is fully compatible with high standards of corporate governance.
LAMDA: Riviera Galleria, the group’s subsidiary constructing the eponymous shopping center at the Agios Kosmas marina, has requested that its creditor banks extend the project completion deadline by seven months, as stated in the prospectus for the issuance of Lamda Development’s new bond.
In other words, while the project is scheduled to be completed by August 31 of this year, an extension until March 31, 2027, is being requested.
The creditor banks agreed to waive their right to terminate the agreement and grant the extension, provided that the loan agreement is amended by June 30.
Incidentally, the loan agreement for the other shopping center (Ellinikon Mall) has not yet been signed, as the sudden depletion of funds from the low-interest financing component threw the entire financing plan into disarray (Note: It was set to receive €344 million from the TAA and another €368 million from a banking consortium).