Hello, before diving into the mundane, I want to pose a question to the intelligent audience that (I want to) believe reads me. If you were visiting an exotic place, say Bolivia, and for some reason woke up one morning with swollen lips: a) Would you ask the hotel where you’re staying for a doctor? b) More likely now, with cameras on phones, would you call your doctor and ask what might have happened to you? c) Would you post a question like, “What’s happening to me, folks?” to your online audience? Well, the latter is what the well-known influencer – actress(?) – persona Christina Bomba chose. Do you find this normal? I find it incredible, simply because yesterday it was the most popular topic on protothema.gr, by far. “This is who you are,” as Koutsoubas says!

Do you think we might become neighbors?

So, I heard from a source that there is serious interest in building a Trump Tower in Elliniko! Of course, the interest is in an early phase; there have been some initial discussions on the part of the Americans, and naturally, the interest from Elliniko will also be explored, as there’s space allocated for another tower. Imagine becoming neighbors with the president and having him come over for holidays…

Meeting in Saariselkä

From Brussels, K.M. departs today for the Arctic Circle, specifically to the village of Saariselkä – as I mentioned in previous days, the Finnish Prime Minister Orpo is hosting a retreat there with a few leaders from the North and South. The location is somewhat remote and far from Rovaniemi, Santa Claus’s village, which is the folkloric attraction of the season. However, the leaders, besides internal bonding, will also participate in outdoor activities, and there’s a parallel program planned for their relatives who might accompany them. Meanwhile, the latest development is that Giorgia Meloni fell ill and will not attend the retreat in Saariselkä, so she left K. Mitsotakis to represent her.

Appointments for IDs and passports

Yesterday, Interior Minister Theodoros Livanios quickly signed the formal act on the citizenship application submitted yesterday morning at the Registry Office by the legal representative of the former royal family, Konstantinos Lidorikis. The case now heads to the National Printing Office, and the Official Government Gazette will be issued in the next few days, allowing them to begin the process for IDs and passports at the relevant police department. Incidentally, someone familiar with the matter told me that many children do not have Danish citizenship but only Danish diplomatic passports, which often caused trouble at airports, especially in the U.S., where additional procedures were required. These days, all five children of the former king are in Greece.

Military service

Of course, acquiring citizenship entails some obligations, such as military service. While Pavlos, Nikolaos, and Philippos have surpassed the age limit, the military service office will “knock on the doors” of Pavlos’s four sons. Konstantinos Alexios is 26, Achilleas Andreas 24, Odysseas Kimon 20, and the “youngest,” Aristidis Stavros, is 16. If the children claim permanent residency abroad, they are eligible for deferrals and can legally buy out their service – as Kasselakis did. However, if they wish to serve, I can see them gradually joining the ranks of the draft.

Changes at ERT

Revisions to the structuring of ERT’s contracts will be introduced in 2025. A relevant source tells me the idea is for the contracts to cover the television season, meaning September to September, rather than being “calendar-based,” from January to year-end. A characteristic example of such a contract is that of Christina Vidou, who is leaving these days from the morning show “Connections” to head to SKAI, where she will present the main news bulletin after the holidays.

Where the Competition Commission settled for two days

The Competition Commission announced it conducted “surprise on-site inspections at a series of companies operating in the markets of coffee, chocolate, and infant nutrition supply, wholesale, and retail,” categories that have recently seen significant price increases, citing the record rise in international raw material prices. The aim of the inspections, carried out on December 17 and 18, was to investigate potential anti-competitive horizontal or vertical agreements as well as potential abuse of a dominant position. Reports now suggest that the “series of companies” mentioned in the official statement consists of one: Nestle, the only company in Greece active in all the product categories listed in the announcement. If this information is confirmed, it indicates an intensification of the Commission’s inspections, operating in parallel with DIMEA, which is auditing a total of 26 companies – multinationals, food industries, and other consumer goods companies, as well as supermarket chains.

“Pantelis” loans

The major hotelier Pantelis Mantounanakis decided to lend money to… himself. This is evident from the decision of the “extraordinary, self-convened, universal General Meeting of shareholders” of the company Attikos Ilios (which manages the Grand Resort Lagonissi) on November 29, 2024, which approves “the drafting of a loan assignment contract whereby the amount of €5,100,000, plus interest from 04.09.2024, awarded to Attikos Ilios S.A. against ETAD S.A., is assigned to Argolikos Ilios S.A., the group’s company managing hotels in Nafplio.” The interest on the loan will be 5.15% annually, beginning on the day the assignee collects the claim, uses it for offsetting, or further assigns it. The loan has a five-year duration, after which the assignee must pay €5,100,000 plus interest to the assignor. On December 6, Argolikos Ilios – also managed by P. Mantounanakis and his sister Anna – approved the transaction, and on December 10, the company’s Board authorized the deal. So, onwards and upwards…

The archaeological odyssey of Rafina’s wastewater

It’s not just metro projects that face issues with archaeological excavations, causing years of delays. Similar difficulties arise in many projects, derailing contracts and critical infrastructure for the Attica basin. One such case is the wastewater treatment center in Rafina-Pikermi, contracted in summer 2021 by Aktor before being acquired by Intrakat. The €64 million project is already two years behind schedule due to the discovery of Roman artifacts during excavation, followed by Byzantine monuments, Hellenistic, Greek, and finally a Neolithic settlement, blocking all progress. Athens, it seems, is evolving into a Hydra for public works, with humorous complications in various contracts, such as the flood protection project on the Erasinos River in Mesogeia, halted by environmental complaints about a fish species at risk. These complaints have led the EU to demand a special ecological study. Appeals have reached the Council of State and the EU itself.

Not bad for Erasmeio

It hasn’t been long since the last collaboration of an educational group with a foreign player, that of the International Schools Partnership with the “Platon” Schools, and already it is rumored that a new agreement is in the works. The private education sector is investment-hot, which is partly due to an improved regulatory framework and the consistently high demand from Greeks and the steadily increasing number of expats in our country. Agreements have already been reached for the Moraitis School, Kostea-Geitonas Schools, Doukas, and “Platon.” Last year, BC Partners acquired the private educational group AKMI, while major investments are also underway, such as the one in Elliniko by the Prokopiou shipping family and Lamda Development for the development of an educational institution with an International Baccalaureate program (IB). Of course, none of this would likely be happening if the businesses in the sector were not significantly profitable. For instance, Erasmeio Hellenic-German School, which published its financial results yesterday (for the period 1/7/2023–30/6/2024), reported revenues of €14.3 million (up from €13.3 million) and pre-tax profits of €474,000 (up from €180,000). The school is also preparing to distribute a €600,000 dividend to its shareholders, with retained earnings of €1.4 million. Nicht schlecht (not bad at all).

General assembly with carols

On Christmas Eve, MED decided to hold an extraordinary general assembly to approve the change of its corporate name and its new distinctive title. The change is part of the mergers with the companies ONYX, GREEN HOPE, and AGANOR “to reflect both its old and new activities.” Essentially, MED is merging with other companies that own plots of land in Halkidiki, in N. Fokaia, and are planning to create an integrated tourist resort in the area. The goal is to establish a 5-star facility, with the total investment estimated between €120 million and €145 million. Efforts will also be made to secure a loan to fund the investment plan from the Recovery Fund, if feasible, as there has been no shortage of applications. Meanwhile, the company is also planning the transfer of its shares from the Alternative Market to the Main Market of the Athens Stock Exchange sometime next year.

The new ventures of G. Bratakos

A new business direction for the President of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Giannis Bratakos. Specifically, after the sale of the small-to-medium-sized IT company dd synergy, G. Bratakos is turning to the tourism sector and investing in the construction of a hotel in Mani.

Dividend of €8.5 million

Following the sale of its subsidiary in Bulgaria to “Olympus” of the Sarantis brothers, its strongest competitor, DELTA distributed a dividend of €8.5 million to Nutrico, the holding company of the group.

The hotelier, €150 million, and new plans

Alexander Angelopoulos (Aldemar) returned from Crete €80 million stronger after completing the third consecutive sale of a hotel complex of the Group in Crete. The Knossos Royal of the Aldemar Group, in Hersonissos, was transferred to Cretan hotelier Antonis Karatzis. A year ago, Alexander Angelopoulos completed the sale of two other hotel units in Crete to the Mitsis Group, amassing a total capital of €150 million. His next plans are now shifting to the Peloponnese, where he owns the Aldemar Olympian Village. There, the Angelopoulos family has a large property, which, among other things, includes 85,000 square meters of urban-planned land for residential construction. Plans are in motion for an ambitious investment, totaling close to €300 million, to create a different hospitality model. Alexander Angelopoulos believes the era of imposing hotel real estate giants has passed and aspires to create a new tourism experience.

Athens with an eye on Washington

The familiar scenario unfolded again. Those in a hurry to convert cash into their portfolios to close the year faced the reluctance of buyers. Toward the end of the session, buyers, after amusing themselves by toying with sellers, lifted the General Index from -1% to +0.04% at 1,456.2 points. All this with a transaction value of less than €100 million, specifically €94.3 million, with just €3 million in block trades. TITAN’s return to €40 (+2.3%) simply confirmed its spectacular performance this year, and OTE’s attempt to reclaim €15 gave hope to the market. Ultimately, OTE closed +1.3% at €14.76. The banks, without impressing, kept the market steady, led by Eurobank at €2.23 (+1.13%), followed by National and Piraeus. Nonetheless, all day yesterday, in stock market offices, the main topic of discussion was developments across the Atlantic. The bill for funding the federal government was withdrawn, once again raising the risk of a U.S. shutdown tonight at midnight. This scenario has played out many times before, and a political compromise is always found at the last minute. However, this is Trump’s year. The bill was withdrawn after intense pressure from Elon Musk and support from the elected president. Donald Trump demands a “clean bill” without “unjustifiable expenses” and an extension of the debt ceiling increase beyond the deadline (June 2025).

The FED cut rates, but stock markets are falling

On the day Federal Reserve Chairman Powell announced what the market had been expecting—a new reduction in U.S. dollar interest rates by ¼ percentage point—the S&P 500 index recorded a statistical record: the largest drop following FED announcements since March 2020. In one day, $1.8 trillion was wiped out from the market capitalization. The downward trend continued yesterday, but initial buyer reactions also emerged. It is clear that the dollar’s monetary policy is changing. A strong dollar requires high interest rates. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield at 4.55% is higher than FED rates. Initial analyses have already predicted a resurgence of inflation in 2025, which is why the FED revised its 2025 forecast from three rate cuts to two, totaling 50 basis points. Meanwhile, the dollar is moving toward full parity with the euro, and the Bank of England seems to have gotten the message by tempering expectations for rate cuts for the pound. For the first time since March 2020, $1 now equals CAD 1.44. Consequently, the new realities for the cost of borrowing dollars are that there is strong disagreement over further rate cuts, the FED is revising its inflation forecast for the end of 2025 from 2.1% to 2.5%, and it “sees” unemployment at 4.3% by the end of 2025. In simple terms, the Trump era of “Make Dollar Strong Again” has begun.