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contents
Publisher
Alexandra C. Vovolini,
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Managing Editor
Antonis D. Papagiannidis,
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Founding Editor
Robert Mc Donald
Editor-in-chief
Philip Pangalos*,
[email protected]
Contributors
Vanessa Alexakis
Antonis Bikakis
David Glass
Kerin Hope
Dimitris Kontogiannis
Nick Papandreou,
[email protected]
Copy Editor
Georgia Micha
Art & Design
Makis Christopoulos,
[email protected]
Marketing Director
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Photographs
Athens News Agency – Macedonian Press
Agency, ACE Images, Vovolini Archive
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Εκδότρια - Διευθύντρια
Αλεξάνδρα Κ. Βοβολίνη
Γενική Διεύθυνση
Αντώνης Δ. Παπαγιαννίδης
* Philip Pangalos is an Athens correspondent
for the Sunday Times and Sky News
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NEWS AND VIEWS
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Publisher’s Note
Editor’s log
In Pictures
News-In-Brief
COMMENTS
08 The seas get rough indeed
Antonis D. Papagiannidis says
that in order to prevent the good
ship Greece from running
aground or capsizing, another EU
summit was called to the rescue
50 A “plan B” for the Government
Economist and author Nick
Papandreou says that every time
a new Government assumes
power in Greece, the urge
to legislate raises its ugly head
ECONOMY & BONDS
16 Greek economy:
Current developments,
challenges and prospects
Yannis Stournaras, Governor
of the Bank of Greece, outlines
prospects of the Greek economy
at a London School of Economics
Hellenic Observatory Annual
Lecture in London on March 25
20 Recovery hopes stumble
Political uncertainty and a drop in
revenues have put the brake on
economic growth hopes, despite
the falling euro and lower oil prices
22 In the doldrums
Political uncertainty and a deterioration in public finances pushed
Greek bond yields to new highs,
shutting the country out of markets
By Dimitris Kontogiannis
bf April-May 2015
INTERVIEWS
48 The Greek technological genius
that conquered Silicon Valley
Konstantinos Polychronis talks
about BugSense and the “American dream” that came true
By Antonis Bikakis
FEATURES
AND ANALYSIS
BANKING
24 Hostage to political negotiations
Greek banks have increased
their dependence on Eurosystem
funding at a time when non-performing loans have risen, making
them more vulnerable
By Dimitris Kontogiannis
ANALYSIS
26 Keeping Greece in the Eurozone
Dr Nikolaos Georgikopoulos,
visiting Research Professor
at New York University-Stern
School of Business and Research
Associate at KEPE in Athens,
explains what needs to be done
to ensure that Greece remains
in the single European currency
GOLD MINING
30 Gold wars
Political obstacles to a mining project by Canada’s Eldorado Gold
could derail one of the biggest foreign investments in Greece, threatening the 1 billion euro project and
thousands of jobs in Halkidiki
By Kerin Hope
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Issue 100 April-May 2015
economia.gr
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SHIPPING
32 Greek shipping will survive
The sixth annual Capital Link Greek Shipping
Forum looked at the opportunities and the challenges on the shipping horizon
By David Glass
34 Silence is golden
Greek shipowners warn the new government
not to intervene heavy-handedly in Greece’s key
shipping sector as it may lead to relocation overseas, with the Shipping Ministry instead focusing its attention on the domestic ferry network
By David Glass
35 Veniamis at helm of Union of Greek
Shipowners again after new board elected
By David Glass
36 Greeks prominent on the ‘One Hundred’ list
of world shipping’s most influential people
Some 14 Greeks are on the Lloyd’s List ‘One
Hundred’ most influential people, organisations
and governments in the global shipping industry, while Forbes and Bloomberg have identified
half a dozen Greek shipping billionaires
By David Glass
38 Navigating the debt crisis
A study by XRTC shows that Greek shipping
companies say the country’s debt crisis has had
little impact on the flow of their business,
even though the ship finance scene
has changed dramatically
By David Glass
42 The shipping effect
Greece’s exports of services, influenced by the
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country’s large shipping industry, slumped by 21
per cent post crisis and have never fully recovered, impacting on the current account deficit
By David Glass
REAL ESTATE
44 Real estate: Hard hit but better researched
Dika Agapitidou, a real estate expert and director of Athens Economics–JLL, says that property market rents are bottoming out following
several years of drastic losses, although uncertainty hampers serious forecasts or projections
TOURISM
46 Rays of hope for another record year
from the tourism industry
Greece seems set for another record year in
tourism arrivals this year as likely increases from
key German and British markets should more
than offset a decline in Russian tourists in 2015
By Dimitris Kontogiannis
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The April-May issue of Business File went to press on March 27, 2015.
Our next issue of Business File will be out at the end of May, 2015
April-May 2015 bf
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