MYTILINEOS: Evangelos has become much sought-after. The column understands that after his appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe yesterday, foreign media began calling to request interviews with him too.
Why? Because he “tells it like it is” at a time when many of Europe’s business leaders — and even more of its politicians — resort to platitudes and, when things get difficult, kick the ball into the stands.
He took Putin’s proposal for a trilateral meeting with Trump and Xi on Ukraine, with neither Ukraine nor Europe as a whole present, and called it what it was: a “new Yalta”.
In other words, if it goes ahead, the three major powers will make the decisions while everyone else is merely informed. If that happens, he said, Europe will be permanently excluded from the negotiating table — just as Greece was in 1945, when its fate was decided at Yalta in its absence.
MYTILINEOS II: He was even more outspoken about Brussels. The man who was president of Eurometaux until July (now European Metals) called the European Commission “completely incapable” of responding and described an arbitrage opportunity that says it all.
The US imposes a 50% tariff on primary aluminium and 0% on scrap, while Europe allows its own scrap to be exported freely. So, as he put it, you move the recycling smelter to the US, get European scrap “for free” and sell at a 50% premium.
And yet, in September the European Commission abandoned a plan to impose a 15% tariff on scrap exports. Meanwhile, exports of European aluminium scrap to the US have risen by… 243%.
PS: A month ago, perhaps even longer, Mytilineos gave an interview to The Times, saying that a complete ban on Russian natural gas would be a mistake on geographical and cost grounds. He spoke his mind in a country that has become staunchly anti-Russian.
The issue received little coverage in Greece, because the Financial Times ran a far juicier interview the very next day. Mytilineos’s position, after all, is hardly… unknown.
Some people have belatedly remembered the remark, though, for their own reasons — probably to drag him into the political and business disputes of the day…
POLITICS: MPs elected on the SYRIZA ticket who became independents in July to back Alexis Tsipras’s new venture are gradually beginning to hand back their seats.
Haris Mamoulakis resigned as an MP for Heraklion yesterday. The seat now goes to the next candidate on the list, Socrates Vardakis, who made clear that he remains with SYRIZA, bringing the party’s total to 11 MPs.
Word is that two more resignations will follow in the coming days or hours — one is said to be that of Marina Kontotoli of Trikala — and that by the end of the year another 12 former SYRIZA members, now independent MPs, will have completed the process of handing back their seats.
Two cases remain: Popi Tsapanidou and Olga Gerovasili, neither of whom appears similarly willing.
In the former’s case, the reason is that her resignation would bring the next candidate on the list, Stefanos Kasselakis, into Parliament — something many people in both her former party (SYRIZA) and her future one (ELAS) do not want.
Clearly, this is a personal feud: there would be no political earthquake if “My name is Stefanos” became an MP for three to four months.
TSIPRAS: Alexis Tsipras’s refusal to commit to reinstating the 13th pension from the rostrum of the Thessaloniki International Fair caused a stir — and was noted repeatedly.
In response to every question that followed, ELAS officials gave the same blunt answer: “At this point, there is no fiscal room” and “our urgent priority is supporting the ‘children’ and ‘grandchildren’ of pensioners who cannot make ends meet amid today’s high prices”.
Yesterday, however, Mr Tsipras slightly changed course: just as I introduced a partial 13th pension in the midst of the bailout programmes, despite those who — inside and outside the party — tried to tear me apart, I will do so again.
When? When taxation of great wealth and a patriotic contribution provide €2bn in fiscal room.
A “qualified” promise, of course, unlike PASOK’s: a full 13th pension, plus the reinstatement of EKAS.
We will have to see whom pensioners believe…
ELAS: Maximos Mansion’s explanation that Michalis Bekiris is serving as a “volunteer” director of the prime minister’s office in Parliament has failed to convince ELAS. On the contrary, it is keeping the issue in the spotlight, with its spokesperson, Theoni Koufonikolakou, asking for the third time yesterday: how did he become director, where is the appointment published in the Government Gazette, what does it mean to serve as a “volunteer”, who bears institutional responsibility for his actions, and does he have a degree?
Another question is whether he files a “where did your wealth come from?” declaration, leaving questions about his financial situation.
People at Amalias say all these questions will be raised every day “until the answers are given”.
PIRAEUS-EBZ: The debt of the Aleva and Arpis SPVs, owned by Piraeus Bank, was transferred to Cyprus-based Molnikia Ltd last year. The SPVs received, as part of the restructuring of EBZ, loan receivables secured against factories and storage facilities in Platy and Larissa (Aleva SA) and Orestiada (Arpis).
Last year, the two companies issued convertible bonds, usually with maturities of eight years and a contractual interest rate of 11% a year. Molnikia Ltd subscribed for all of them.
The same practice is continuing this year. Molnikia Ltd may be linked to Strix Asset Management, which manages Arpis, as executives from the Strix group sit on its board.
Although Piraeus owns the companies, it does not consolidate them because it transferred them in 2023 to Strix Holdings, which is managed by Strix Asset Management.
CENERGY: The investment to double the capacity of the plant the listed company is building in Maryland, US, will be made next year, investors understood at yesterday’s presentation of Hellenic Cables’ production facilities in Thiva.
The investment will amount to between €50m and €60m and, according to the listed company’s announcement, will be funded entirely from its cash flows. The new lines are expected to come on stream in 2028.
Management said the decision to double production capacity, while construction of the first phase is in full swing — it is expected to come on stream in the second half of 2027 — reflects strong demand in the US market and the growing trend towards long-term cable supply agreements.
The Maryland plant, with its expanded production capacity, is expected to contribute more than $60m to consolidated EBITDA from 2029 onwards.
Y/KNOT: “People at the Athens Stock Exchange breathed a sigh of relief when we came in. They said: ‘At last, someone had the nerve to do it’,” recalls Rigas Tzortzis, founder and chairman of Y/Knot Invest, the shipping company that paved the way for ocean-going companies to list on the Athens Stock Exchange.
“We saw change coming and wanted to be part of it,” he said in comments to TradeWinds, explaining the decision to tap the Greek capital market to raise funds.
In April 2026, the company raised €22.8m through a share capital increase and then acquired the 105,900 dwt tanker Amethyst, as the tanker market rose.
“We are not interested in any particular shipping sector. We are interested in the right projects, which deliver good returns for us and our investors,” Tzortzis said.
With a fleet that currently includes an Aframax and a Handysize bulk carrier, Y/Knot is looking to expand further, is considering a bond issue and plans to begin paying dividends in 2027.
“We want to grow,” Mr Tzortzis concluded.
VALENTIS: Pyxis Tankers, whose interests are associated with Valentios Valentis, has returned to strong profitability, posting its best quarter in two years.
According to its second-quarter results, the shipping company’s adjusted EBITDA came to $6.5m. Net profit reached $2.82m, reversing a loss of $2m in the same period last year.
The company is strengthening its strategic position by acquiring the remaining 40% of the vessel “Ormi” for $6.83m, securing 100% ownership.
Pyxis Tankers has also secured a two-year charter with CITGO for the tanker “Lamda” at $31,000 a day, a move expected to immediately increase annual earnings per share by $0.27.
With total liquidity of $103.2m, Pyxis Tankers now has substantial funds available for new investment opportunities.