Today, Minister of National Economy and Finance and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis visited the Cooperative Union of Tobacco Producers of Greece (SEKE) in Xanthi.
Immediately after his meeting with SEKE President Kostas Karamanlis and chief executive Alexandros Kontos, Mr Pierrakakis made the following statement:
“We are at the largest tobacco industry not only in Greece, but in the Balkans. It has a very significant export business and a presence in both regions.
I believe this is very important, and I want to underline it in the context of what we will discuss at the upcoming ECOFIN meeting. On the compromise proposal for tobacco product taxation, Greece, together with other countries, has secured a much better text and a much better deal than the one initially proposed by the European Commission.
I want to stress that we have secured much more measured tax increases, which will not take effect in 2028, as the Commission’s original proposal envisaged. For our country, they will take effect in 2036. In other words, we have secured a longer and more realistic period for their implementation.
Naturally, we prioritise public health. It is precisely because we prioritise public health that we wanted tax rates to be more realistic, more proportionate and accompanied by a more reasonable adjustment period.
After all, this sector, this industry has very high added value, not just for our country, not just for our part of the country, but also for this region, for Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, for Xanthi. And that means a great deal to us.
I will close with this: in Europe, we can achieve a great deal and make our case with a plan, persistence and ongoing negotiations. When we succeed in doing so, Greece can really take many steps forward.
Thank you very much”.