KARATZAFERIS: Four figures within ND who could succeed Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the event that he steps down from the premiership in order to take on a “top portfolio in the European Union”, were named by Giorgos Karatzaferis in an interview.
Specifically, he referred to the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias, the president of the Eurogroup and Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis and the MP for Eastern Attica Makis Voridis.
Regarding the other “his political child” from LAOS, Thanos Plevris, as he said, “he has not yet become a general, he is a brigadier”.
At the same time, he launched new fire against Antonis Samaras: “In an apartment building there is the owner, there is the tenant, but sometimes there is also the squatter. That is Samaras, I hold him in no esteem whatsoever”, the former president of LAOS said characteristically.
“If Mitsotakis had made him Commissioner, would he be doing what he is doing now? If he had made him President of the Republic, would he be doing what he is doing now? He did not give him that little something and he is complaining.
He is not the only one. There are others too whom he did not give and they “throw stones” with the means they have. This man, the traitor, we cannot put him in the midst of affairs. It would be a big mistake”, he noted, once again taking the side of the current prime minister.
SAMARAS: The findings for the Messenian, however, are interesting, in the GPO poll (for Parapolitika).
To the question of how likely they are to vote for a party of Antonis Samaras, 89.2% of citizens answer little and not at all, while 9.5% answer very and fairly. Moreover, 55.2% believe that the differences between the former prime minister and Kyriakos Mitsotakis are personal and 36.6% political.
11.9% of respondents support that Mr. Samaras expresses the political principles of ND. In the same question, Kostas Karamanlis is in first place with 34.1%, while Kyriakos Mitsotakis follows in second place with 27.9%.
It is no coincidence that the prime minister pointed out in his interview with ERT that “Mr. Karamanlis, I believe that he himself is identified with ND”. Especially as the elections draw nearer…
KYRANAKIS: In favor of reducing the special fuel tax is the Secretary of ND.
“My position has always been that it should be reduced. It is something I said both as an opposition MP and as a government MP and I continue to say it as a minister as well”, Konstantinos Kyranakis noted on Mega, referring to the Ministry of Finance, but also to Europe.
“The economic staff is the one that judges and has the overall picture of expenditures. I respect that absolutely… There is a spending limit which our budget has reached. We have made a request to exceed the spending limit for investments in energy, so that energy prices can be reduced through networks and storage.
We will do the same for measures concerning the pump. So if Europe allows us to exceed the spending limit, then yes, the excise tax on gasoline can be reduced. And therefore the price at the pump can also be reduced”, he stressed.
From now on, the battle is expected to be fought in mid-October, at the EU Summit. As happened with the pandemic, so now too, the prime minister, coordinated with the leaders of other southern countries (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc.), is preparing to raise the issue insistently.
Whether he will succeed or not remains to be seen.
KASIDIARIS: Today the recently released from prison Ilias Kasidiaris will announce his intentions for his next political step.
“I returned free, wiser and stronger to the national struggles and to the center of political life”, he declares, although quite a few constitutional law experts are putting the brakes on these ambitions of his, interpreting the relevant legislation.
The final judge is the Council of State, which will rule on the legality of the undertaking of the former deputy leader of Golden Dawn, while the government rejects the possibility of a new legislative regulation on the matter, assuring that “the legal framework is sufficient”.
MILENA APOSTOLAKI: “European legislation does not prohibit member states (and Greece) from reducing the excise tax on gasoline”, the PASOK MP points out in a post of hers, on the occasion of Kyriakos Mitsotakis' statements on the matter.
The EU, she notes, sets a minimum level of taxation. For unleaded gasoline it is 359 euros per 1,000 liters. The Greek excise tax is 700 euros, that is almost double the European minimum threshold!
“Therefore, there is room to reduce the excise tax without violating the European minimum threshold and without requiring a special European permit for the reduction of the tax itself”, stresses Milena Apostolaki.
“So let the government not rush to present the self-evident as a ‘claim’. And if it ultimately proceeds with a reduction of the excise tax”.
And she makes the jab: “Let it finally explain to us why it is doing so, since until recently it insisted that the reduction would not be passed on to fuel prices and the consumer”
Everything the PASOK MP says is correct, no permission is needed for the reduction of the excise tax. However, there is also the other side of the coin. Any significant cut in special taxes may cause a breach of fiscal rules, which say that beyond a certain point, spending must be reduced to offset the reduced revenues.
Cyprus, of course, proceeded with generous reductions, without having its... ear pulled, having the double advantage of surpluses and low debt. Greece does have surpluses, but on the other hand it has excessively high debt.
So it is not certain that a spectacular reduction of the excise tax for months will pass without complications if we do not have the agreement of the EU, government officials say, also defending the prime minister’s position “to ask Europe first”.
GASOLINE: In a very recent report, Goldman Sachs changes its “bet”, which is also of interest to… consumers. Because it closes its position in the time spread of European diesel and recommends buying European gasoline for delivery in June 2027.
The explanation it gives is simple. The current difference in wholesale prices is pushing refineries to produce more diesel and less gasoline. Thus the supply of gasoline is reduced while demand is proving more resilient.
Note that compared with last March, when the open conflict in the Gulf began, European contracts have risen by 37% in gasoline, versus 64% in diesel. According to Goldman, there is room for a significant rise in gasoline, especially if the conflicts continue to pressure production and infrastructure.
In short, the news is bad for gasoline prices at the pump as well, in the coming months, unless something changes dramatically in the geopolitical scene.
Goldman does not, of course, give a forecast for the price at Greek gas stations.
But with wholesale prices rising internationally, the only “remedy” to keep filling the tank from becoming more expensive will be either the (large) subsidy of the price at the pump, or the significant reduction of the imposed taxes.
MONEY: In another fresh report, Goldman deals with the competition for capital. The technology giants are borrowing for artificial intelligence infrastructure. States need money for defense, energy and infrastructure. Both, however, turn to the same market, at a time when inflation is pushing interest rates upward.
So, the conclusion is, whoever expects a quick return to the “cheap” money of the past will probably be disappointed.
The issue of course also concerns our country, since both companies and the state borrow based on the terms shaped in the international market. In other words, even if the country’s picture improves somewhat relative to Germany, the rise in the German interest rate itself raises the bar, affecting all the other countries of the Eurozone.
However, for the poor depositors, the situation is not expected to change much in Greece, since the gap between lending and deposit rates is enormous.
The latest available data from the Bank of Greece, which concerned July, gave a clear picture. At 4.67% the average interest rate on new loans, just… 0.39% on new deposits.
SHIPPING: Gabon’s international ship registry is entering a new era, as its management is being taken over by a company based in Piraeus, following the removal of the previous managers who had come under the target of Western sanctions.
The new head of the Gabon International Ship Registry (GISR), Emmanouil D. Morakis, said that the registry is now following a “completely different course”, with stricter checks before the registration of ships. Already three ships have been deleted that did not meet the requirements, while warnings have been sent to three more that are falsely appearing as ships under the Gabon flag.
The registry had developed into a popular choice for ships of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, especially after the start of the war in Ukraine. Today it includes 78 ships over 10,000 GT, among them 19 tankers.
The new administration is planning the full restart of the registry within the next month, aiming to strengthen its credibility.
LASKARIDIS: Thanasis Laskaridis is proceeding with yet another particularly profitable asset play in the VLCC market, as he is in advanced negotiations for the sale of a newly built tanker being constructed in China.
Laskaridis Tankers, the tanker arm of Alimia Group, is negotiating the sale of the 306,000 dwt VLCC Hyde Park I to a major energy trader. The ship, equipped with a scrubber and ready to use LNG as fuel, is expected to be delivered by Hengli Heavy Industry shipyards in November.
If the deal is completed, the Greek group is estimated to reap a profit of at least $70 million. Laskaridis ordered the ship last year, when the price for corresponding slots at Hengli shipyards stood at around $120 million. Today, according to Clarksons Research, the value of a newly built VLCC has surged to around $190 million, while ships delivered close to the Middle East region can achieve even higher prices.
This is Laskaridis’s second similar move within 2026, as in May he sold to Trafigura another VLCC under construction at Hengli, Las Palmas, for $163 million.
COCA COLA: Friday’s D-Day turned out... sour for the heaviest “paper” of the Greek market, as it also recorded the highest losses on the entire board, losing 5.77% and falling to 50.6 euros.
Transactions increased to 17.4 million euros, however analysts asked by the column did not attribute the plunge to rebalancing due to the return of the ATHEX to developed markets.
The major weakness of the stock appears to be linked to concerns about activities in Russia, following Moscow’s move to place the assets of Nestle and Auchan under state control as well, with investors being... alarmed about a similar move by the Kremlin with other multinationals operating in the country...
AUTOHELLAS: Friday’s rebalancing sent the stock to... yearly lows, as it closed at 10.5 euros with a drop of 5.58%, while 649 thousand shares changed hands, with the value of transactions soaring to 6.8 million euros.
The previous low for the stock is located on April 29, at 10.66 euros.
SARANTIS: On Friday, Sarantis also landed at new yearly lows, closing at 11.86 euros with losses of 4.35% and turnover above 10 million euros.
The stock had already recorded a sharp decline from levels above 15 euros in early August, with cumulative losses in that period exceeding 21%.
EXAE: On Friday, the stock of Euronext Athens was also on... top, “posting” double-digit gains of 11.7% and closing at the historic high of 9.42 euros while almost 250,000 “pieces” changed hands, the most since February 19.
The stock is up more than 18% within five sessions.
It is noted that EXAE is also entering the Small Cap index of FTSE/Russell, while it is also benefiting greatly from the turnover surge accompanying the market’s upgrade to Developed status.
DAA: The airport stock emerged as the biggest winner on Friday, as it “hit” a new all-time high at 12.27 euros with a jump of 8.87% and transactions exceeding 54 million euros.
Before the auctions the stock was moving a little above 11 euros, only to gain a whole euro in the context of rebalancing. It is noted that the stock is now entering the Small Cap index of FTSE/Russell.
The stock is “posting” gains of almost 16% over the last week, following the announcement of resilient half-year results as well as the reallocation of the expansion works, with planning for the “breaking up” of the relevant tenders, so as to cause the smallest possible burden on operating activity.