A number of government and opposition MPs oppose a clause in the draft omnibus bill supports the abolition of the mandatory paid publication of public project contracts and tender details by the state and local administration organizations (OTA).

Regional newspaper owners underline that the clause will have a bad effect on their revenues and will threaten the survival of regional press leading to the closure of small newspapers.  In their address to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs they pointed to the danger of thousands of jobs being lost.

Deputy Development Minister Gerassimos Giakoumatos did not rule out the likelihood of changes to be introduced next week, underlining that “no one wants the death of regional press”.