European Union Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis on Monday called technical negotiations with the radical leftist government in Athens “very complicated”, while much more work needs to be done so that an agreement to extend a loan agreement for cash-strapped Greece is achieved before or during an April 24 Eurogroup meeting.

Dombrovskis spoke to Bloomberg TV, stressing that “lots of time was wasted on relatively irrelevant topics” since talks began, in earnest, in late February.

“The technical negotiations are ongoing … The next Eurogroup meeting foreseen for April 24 in Riga will be a good occasion to take stock of how the technical negotiations have been going so far. “Right now those discussions are gaining speed but on the other hand time is also running out. There is still lots of work to do, lots of ground to cover,” he said.

“Technically speaking there is more time for negotiations but the Greek authorities themselves are emphasizing that their cash position is getting more difficult.”