THEODORIKAKOS—PRICES: In less than 45 minutes, the Maximos Mansion reached an agreement with the food industry and supermarkets on a two-month “period of stability.”Takis Theodorikakos announced an end to the cap on gross profit margins, no new price increases on packaged goods during the summer, and the continuation of existing price reductions on approximately 2,000 products.
The real test, however, will come with the first rains. In September, the government, industry, and retailers will negotiate a new package of measures to agree on which basic product categories may see price reductions and by how much.
The government’s goal is for citizens to find lower prices on supermarket shelves when they return from their summer vacations. If this is achieved, the government will be able to argue that it has moved beyond the emergency administrative measures of the high-inflation period to a new model of cooperation with the market, while also presenting a strong political narrative ahead of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair and the pre-election period.
The equation, however, is not an easy one. Just as Athens is attempting to “seal” an agreement to bring prices down, international markets are beginning to send new warning signals.
The severe heat wave affecting Europe is already impacting agricultural commodity markets. For example, corn futures on the Paris exchange have risen by nearly 11% in two weeks, reaching their highest levels in recent months. On the other hand, nothing is certain regarding developments in the Middle East.
Consequently, the question arises as to whether these developments might exceed expectations…
INSURANCE-CLINICS: The Annual Adjustment Index (AAI) for health insurance has been published for the first time, and for the first time we have figures that put things into perspective and create… surprises.
What do the figures show? That in 2024, the net cost of coverage—excluding the effect of age—increased by just... 1.25%. This percentage represents the actual increase attributable to “external factors”—such as more expensive healthcare services, clinic fees, and hospital charges.
The total 6.24% figure, which is obtained when age is factored in, reflects something we all know: as you get older, you cost the system more. It is essentially the cost of an aging population.
The data becomes even more interesting when viewed by contract category.
For long-term policies, claims rose from 227.7 million euros in 2023 to 229 million euros in 2024—a nearly negligible increase. The average cost per claim rose from 4,563 to 4,938 euros, but the increase was only 1.76% (excluding the impact of an aging population).
For annually renewable policies, claims payments rose more significantly, from 232.4 to 254.3 million euros. At the same time, however, many new policyholders joined the market—the number rose from 664,000 to 708,000.
And here’s a striking “detail”: the average cost per claim actually fell, from 3,604 to 3,578 euros. The age-adjusted index? It rose by just 0.79%.
This raises a major question. Why have insurance companies been complaining for so long about what they called excessive price hikes at private clinics, and why did some of them rush to raise premiums by as much as 13%?
Because the ELSTAT data do anything but support their claims...
NEW DEMOCRACY: Could the government be… using expedited procedures to remove the Secretary of Strategic Planning & Communications, Vasilis Feugas, for his proposals to repeal the law on same-sex couples and to reverse Samaras’s expulsion, yet he remains in his position as usual, even though he publicly challenges key decisions made by the prime minister himself.
“Under no circumstances does a letter (sent to Kyriakos Mitsotakis) by Mr. Feuga represent the New Democracy party. We do not consider it a serious move. There is nothing of the sort in the government’s plans,” said the government spokesperson, who, when asked whether the… perpetrator remains head of the—not coincidentally named—Secretariat, replied:
“As far as I know, yes; there has been no information to the contrary. So it’s not something worth commenting on.”
The New Democracy politician himself—and a long-time close associate of the prime minister—however, insisted on his specific positions in interviews yesterday, speaking of “quite a few people in New Democracy who are dissatisfied and feel alienated,” although, as he said, “my own proposals concern the strategy for victory; they do not constitute a challenge.”
In other words, after he lit the… fire, he then tried to put it out.
P.S. “Malicious tongues” within the party attribute the “Fevga” initiative to the difficult effort to attract voters in the demanding electoral district of Aetolia-Acarnania, where he will be running as a candidate.
NEW DEMOCRACY II: Starting tomorrow, New Democracy MPs will gain an additional digital tool to make their daily work easier, as they will be briefed on and immediately begin using the iKO platform.
This is a comprehensive platform that creates a unified environment for parliamentary information, management, and coordination. The goal is to better organize and provide immediate updates to the New Democracy parliamentary group to facilitate the performance of parliamentary duties.
Members of Parliament will receive immediate and personalized updates, for example, on committee minutes and amendments leading up to plenary sessions, as well as the order of speakers, and will be able to schedule direct meetings with ministers.
The presentation will take place at the Bodosaki Building, led by Vangelis Liakos, Deputy Secretary of the Parliamentary Group, with Kyriakos Mitsotakis in attendance.
And just like that, the New Democracy MPs will go… hi-tech!
DEFENSE: The scenarios and reports (in *NEA*) regarding Greek-Canadian discussions on the two countries’ participation in the newly established international financial institution DSRB (Defense, Security, and Resilience Bank), headquartered in Toronto, have not been confirmed by the government at this time. A government spokesperson stated yesterday that they were unaware of the matter; however, the afternoon phone call between the two prime ministers brought the possibility back into the public eye.
According to the Maximos Mansion, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Mark Carney discussed not only the prospects for bilateral cooperation but also issues related to the upcoming NATO Summit (July 7–8) in Ankara.
There, the Canadian prime minister—as he has previously announced in an article in the *Financial Times*—may put into action his intention to help allies rally around a “defense bank” ready to deploy funds within a year.
Other countries reportedly in advanced discussions with Canada regarding the DSRB include France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and possibly Turkey.
DEFENSE II: The Head of ELIAMEP’s European Institutions and Policies Program and Professor, Spyros Blavoukos, Head of ELIAMEP’s European Institutions and Policies Program and Professor, expressed his concerns regarding how effectively European funds are channeled into defense during the Athens Defense Conference 2026.
As he noted, they recently completed a study on companies in the Greek defense ecosystem that benefited from the European Defense Fund.
According to him, one of the issues that kept coming up in their discussions with the companies concerned what would happen to the final product they developed. The companies argued that they had met all the requirements and developed the product, but needed further support for marketing and promoting it on the market.
Mr. Blavoukos explained that these were primarily small and medium-sized enterprises, which, however, form the backbone not only of the Greek defense ecosystem but also of many similar European ecosystems.
“These companies are struggling to find their way into the market,” he noted, while warning that “today there are many noteworthy products that are at risk of never making it to the production stage.”
As he clarified, this does not mean that the effort made has been in vain, as these are dual-use technologies that can also be utilized in other sectors. However, he expressed concern about the risk of wasting European resources if European authorities do not take the appropriate steps to support the commercial exploitation of these technologies.
Which, ultimately, is the whole point…
EUROBANK: Of the final tranche of the Recovery Fund loan component amounting to 1.4 billion euros allocated to Eurobank, 500 million euros were ultimately disbursed, as the program has concluded.
What is interesting is how the 500 million euros were broken down as follows: 385 million euros came from contracts related to the final installment, and the remaining 100 million euros (and a bit) came from surplus funds from the bank’s businesses and customers, who had taken out loans through the TAA in previous periods.
“We called them, asked them what they had left over, and that’s pretty much how we collected the additional 100 million euros,” said Costas Vassiliou, the bank’s deputy CEO and head of corporate banking, in a private conversation.
EUROBANK II: The loss on the bank’s books resulting from the Katselis Law loan restructuring amounts to just 3–3.5 million euros, as the bank did not charge interest on those loans.
As for the progress of the Swiss franc loan restructuring, we’ve learned that the participation rate has reached 50%.
MOUNT STREET: Once again, the name of the Mount Street credit claims management company has changed. Following its sale by Technical Olympic, the company was renamed Premier Financial Services. By resolution of the general shareholders’ meeting on June 23, the company was renamed Green Credit Services.
BYTE: Byte, which is controlled by Ideal and OakHill through their joint venture Kymora Ltd, improved its profit margins last year, thanks to the decision to abandon low-yield projects and focus on high-value-added services such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, and business applications.
As a result, revenue declined by 15.45% to 63.2 million euros, while the EBITDA margin widened to 15.57% from 9.94% (EBITDA of 9.8 million euros), and the pre-tax profit margin rose to 12.4% from 7.53%. The company ended the fiscal year with net profits of 6.2 million euros, up from 4.2 million euros in 2024.
As of December 31, 2025, its cash and cash equivalents amounted to 21.6 million euros, of which 11.9 million euros were repaid to Kymora last February. Its debt, as of the same date, stood at just 4.6 million euros.
ALLWYN: The newly established Allwyn Hellas Investment is distributing an interim dividend from the profits of the March–May 2026 quarter to Allwyn, following a decision by its board of directors on June 23.
The company was established on February 27, 2026, through a contribution in kind by OPAP of 100% of its subsidiaries, OPAP Investments Ltd, OPAP Cyprus Ltd, OPAP Sports Ltd, and OPAP International Ltd, as part of the restructuring triggered by the transfer of Allwyn’s remaining assets to OPAP.
Allwyn Hellas Investment reported after-tax profits of 96 million euros in the aforementioned quarter, which it likely attributes in full (note: the exact amount of the interim dividend is not specified) to its parent company.
OTE: OTE will receive €36.8 million from its subsidiary OTE Real Estate this year. Of this amount, 6.8 million euros comes from profits for the 2025 fiscal year, and the remaining 30 million euros from after-tax profits from previous fiscal years.
OTE Real Estate reported a 47% increase in revenue from electricity sales (16.9 million euros), driven by rooftop solar panels. EBITDA amounted to 54 million euros, excluding the 52.3 million euro gain from the revaluation of real estate to fair value.
The company plans to sell a property valued at approximately 3.5 million euros, which it has classified as inventory.