SAMARAS: Under the microscope of the Maximos Mansion have come the MPs who… associate with the former prime minister, amid fears of their defection to the new party.
The same happened with the dinner the day before yesterday that three members of the blue Parliamentary Group had with the former prime minister in Pangrati, Charalambos Athanasiou (Lesvos), Theophilos Leontaridis (Serres) and Giorgos Karasmanis (Pella).
And while officially the prime ministerial circle conveys that there is no concern whatsoever and that any defections are not decided over a… meal, nevertheless -as an experienced parliamentarian said meaningfully- “watch your clothes, so you may have your half…”.
BAKOYANNI: At the former prime minister, however, Dora Bakoyanni (Mega) once again aimed her arrows: “He is the personification of hypocrisy and pharisaism. And I say this not because I have some personal issue with Mr. Samaras, I have had an opinion about the man for many years. I have not hidden it, after all”.
The problem of the Messenian, the former minister stressed, “is his stubbornness. Unfortunately, when people are stubborn they do things that will harm his legacy, I do not care very much to be honest… He wants to deprive ND of self-reliance”, she noted.
With the gap between the two remaining unbridgeable for decades.
FEVGAS: The case of Vasilis Fevgas, Secretary for Strategic Planning of ND, over his request for the annulment of the law on same-sex couples and Samaras' expulsion, does not seem to be closing.
Beyond the distancing that the Maximos Mansion took from the outset, blue MPs also began expressing their displeasure, such as Stelios Petsas and Zoi Rapti, who directly asked for his resignation from the position of Secretary, because he is questioning two central choices of the party president.
In fact, the government spokesperson, Pavlos Marinakis, made it even… worse for the Aetolia-Acarnania political hopeful:
“The statements of Mr. Petsas and Ms. Rapti are not unreasonable”, he said and focused on the way Mr. Fevgas expressed his objections, stressing that these can be discussed within the framework of intra-party dialogue.
He did, however, want to close the issue, repeating that “this intervention is not assessed as serious and we move on”.
SYRIZA: The popular saying “panic is a bad adviser, but so is anger” is said to explain the action of the SYRIZA leadership to remove the signature of Pavlos Polakis from questions submitted by the party's MPs.
He himself denounced it, speaking of “pettiness and complexes”, accusing Sokratis Famellos as the instigator of this action, who after all expelled him from the parliamentary group.
The irony is that just yesterday (as the column noted) an amendment was submitted to Parliament with the signatures of current and former SYRIZA MPs, current and former New Left members, former members of Course of Freedom and current members of PASOK. “Did this move not bother Famellos? Only Polakis' signature?”, the rhetorical question…
Meanwhile, it did not escape attention that when Mr. Famellos went up to the Parliament podium yesterday at noon for his speech, only six of SYRIZA's MPs were sitting on its benches.
Although the speech, at that specific time, had been announced since the morning…
SKAI-OPEN: The other day we wrote about Giannis Alafouzos'… blitzkrieg on the teams' television rights, but also about the “pressure” being exerted on Ivan Savvidis, regarding the Open television station, also recalling the clashes with Telis Mystakidis over PAOK.
Now we probably have the next episode, as information circulating in the market wants SKAI of Giannis Alafouzos to appear as a knight for the “rescue” of Open TV.
Our sources speak of exploratory cooperation contacts. Which are said to include many different things. From financing part of OPEN's program, cooperation on the issue of sports rights and commercial “synergies”, to even the possibility of the owner of SKAI participating in Open's share capital.
The malicious tongues of the sector, however, combine all the above and conclude that these are not coincidences. And that, essentially, Savvidis is being pressured in order to make “concessions”.
Judging, however, from the past, we remain skeptical. Ivan has proven not only very tough against “pressure”, something that had happened, if you remember, also in the case of Piraeus Port Authority, but also very difficult in collaborations and… sales, at least as far as Open is concerned.
We have by now lost count of how many times related information has circulated in the market (in some cases it was even… fully verified), without anything ultimately happening.
IOBE: The numbers change very little, but the big picture remains the same. The consumer confidence index stood at -52.8 points in June, almost unchanged compared to May, keeping Greece in last place among the countries of the European Union.
The distance, in fact, from the immediately next most pessimistic countries, Romania and Bulgaria, remains large.
What is interesting is that, despite the slight improvement in estimates for household finances and the broader course of the economy, consumers appear increasingly hesitant to open their wallets.
The intention for major purchases declined noticeably in June, while a mild strengthening of the propensity to save is being recorded.
LAIMOS FAMILY: Enesel Group of Filippos and Antonis Laimos is significantly strengthening its return to the bulk carriers market, as it doubles its orders for capesize vessels at the Chinese shipyard Hengli Heavy Industry and confirms the construction of four ultramax vessels at a second shipyard in China.
According to the updated data on the company's fleet, Enesel now has four 181,500 dwt capesize vessels under construction at Hengli. The two new ships are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2028, while, according to market estimates, the value of each ship ranges between 75 and 78 million dollars.
At the same time, the company confirmed that it is building four 63,500 dwt ultramax vessels at the Jiangsu Hantong shipbuilding complex, with deliveries from the second half of 2027 to the first half of 2028.
The move marks Enesel's dynamic return to bulkers, despite the fact that in 2025 it had exited this specific sector completely.
TSAKOS: Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) of captain Nikolas Tsakos proceeded with a second order for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier within 2026, assigning HD Hyundai Heavy Industries the construction of one more LNG carrier with scheduled delivery in the first quarter of 2029.
This is the company's second order in this specific sector within the year, after the first one announced in February, which marked TEN's return to investments in LNG carriers after seven years. According to shipbuilding sources, the new vessel is the optional (option) order that had been agreed in the initial contract.
With the new agreement, the orderbook of the New York-listed company now amounts to 20 newbuild vessels, including three VLCCs, ten shuttle tankers, five LR1 product tankers and two LNG carriers.
The company's chairman, Giorgos Saroglou, stated that rising global energy demand and geopolitical developments are strengthening the role of LNG as an alternative energy source, making TEN's further presence in the sector strategically important.
SHIPOWNERS: Seanergy Maritime is becoming the latest Greek shipping company to turn to the Athens market to raise capital, proceeding with the issuance of a five-year, unsecured corporate bond of up to 100 million euros on Euronext Athens. The public offering will take place from July 6 to July 8, while trading of the securities is expected to begin on July 13.
The New York-listed company, headed by Stamatis Tsantanis, estimates that it will raise net proceeds of approximately 95.6 million euros, of which about 76 million euros will be directed to fleet expansion.
It is noted that Seanergy currently has one newbuild Newcastlemax and five Capesize vessels under construction, with a total value of approximately 542 million dollars.
It has already secured a significant part of the financing through bank lending, advance payments and the sale of two older vessels to the also US-listed United Maritime.
The issuance strengthens a trend that began in 2021, when companies such as Safe Bulkers, Costamare and Capital Product Partners began raising capital through corporate bonds in Athens, taking advantage of the lower borrowing cost compared with other markets, such as the US or Oslo.
The interest of Greek shipowners in the Athens Stock Exchange is no longer limited only to bonds. Last month Safe Bulkers became the first major Wall Street-listed shipping company to obtain a parallel listing in Athens, while Y/Knot Invest strengthened its presence in the Greek market with the acquisition of an aframax tanker.
Market executives now estimate that new shipping listings will also follow during 2026.
CONSTRUCTION: The market is ablaze with scenarios about which construction group will be the next to proceed with some capital move.
After the moves by Aktor and GEK Terna, quite a few eyes turned to AVAX. For the time being, however, management is putting the brakes on such expectations. At yesterday's general meeting, the group's chairman, Christos Ioannou, was categorical, noting that “we do not have any investment plan that is not covered by the capabilities the company already has in borrowing and cash”.
In the market, however, there is no shortage of those who insist that the data can change quickly. As they note, the undertaking of one or two new major contracts, with increased financing requirements, could lead to a reconsideration of the options.
For the time being, however, this remains a scenario and not a plan.
INTERWOOD: The last step of a financial restructuring plan is, according to market sources, the start of trading of the pre-emption rights for the listed company's share capital increase.
Last year was a turning point. Revenue and EBITDA rose, while the company returned to positive results before taxes, recording profits of €320 thousand versus losses in the previous year.
At the same time, the group improved its gross profit margin, strengthened its equity and reduced net debt.
In 2026, management proceeded with the implementation of an aggressive recovery and restructuring program. In this context, it advanced procedures for property sales in order to reduce debt, closed a refinancing agreement with CrediaBank and set the capital increase in motion.
With the entry of a strategic investor.
INTERWOOD II: The funds to be raised from the Share Capital Increase will be used on the one hand for a further reduction of bank borrowing and on the other hand to strengthen the company's liquidity, in order to support its growth course with a clearly stronger financial base.
Alongside the financial restructuring, Interwood has also proceeded with a strategic shift in its commercial profile, strengthening its participation in large and complex infrastructure and development projects, such as the new hospitals of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Kasteli airport.
According to information, the positive impact of the above moves is already being reflected in the group's commercial activity as well. Market sources estimate that turnover in the first half of 2026 recorded an increase of about 15% compared with the corresponding period last year.
VOLTON: With turnover of 132.4 million euros, EBITDA of 4.9 million euros and losses of 3.2 million euros, at the level of after-tax results, the group closed fiscal year 2025, achieving a significant improvement in performance compared with previous years.
Volton significantly reduced cost of goods sold, with the result that although turnover fell to 132.2 million euros from 150.7 million euros in 2024, gross profits amounted to 12.4 million euros (gross margin 9.37% from 4.98% in 2024.
Other income of 16.89 million euros (i.e. 7.22 million euros from reversal of provisions due to a newer interpretation of IFRS 9) contributed to EBITDA returning to positive territory as they offset increased administrative-selling expenses. After-tax losses were limited to 3.2 million euros from 38.9 million euros in 2024.
VOLTON II: The group, after this year's debt capitalization of 93.97 million euros by related party Kiloman Holdings (i.e. this is the well-known Altomare loan that was transferred on October 31, 2025 to Kiloman, through which the Bakou-Kaymenakis families had acquired part of the share capital of ELLAKTOR) and the cash capital increase of 6 million euros, seeks to expand its market share in energy supply.
Already, in April, its share in electricity load representation rose to 1.13% from 0.99% in 2025.
VOLTON III: Last March the company proceeded with a reduction of share capital to offset accumulated losses, amounting to 101.1 million euros, significantly cleaning up its balance sheet. It remains to be seen whether the above moves to strengthen the financial position also function as groundwork for possible M&A.
References to Aktor's intention to enter the electricity supply market, utilizing capital and liquidity of 950 million euros, which it seeks to raise from the market, are fueling scenarios involving Volton.
It is noted that Volton is controlled by the Bakou-Kaymenakis families, who through Winex also participate in Aktor's share capital.
GEK: About 25% of the funds that GEK raised through the recent share capital increase will be allocated, according to what is circulating in the market, to the water supply sector.
Beyond its participation in EYDAP, which it seeks to increase, GEK is also interested in playing strongly in the PPPs that will come out for water supply projects.