Greetings.

A comment on yesterday’s very large gatherings for Tempi, given the time of year we’re in.
The train accident that claimed the lives of 57 young people is an event that will always shock, move, and enrage public opinion because everyone relates to the tragedy of those 57 families, imagining that it could have been their own child. That’s why the Justice system must do its job properly. Personally, I can’t believe that any judge would fail to perform their duties in a case involving such a tragedy.

Beyond that, the families of the lost children deserve nothing but respect, regardless of what they say or believe, as do the thousands of ordinary people who stand by them with genuine feelings of grief and inexpressible pain. However, when politicians and professional unionists—especially those from the two other parties that governed for years and shaped the image of a broken railway system riddled with political favors—step in, there’s a limit to what one can tolerate. I would have expected the mainstream opposition, especially PASOK, to use the Tempi anniversary and the massive gatherings as an opportunity to demand from the government a genuine investigation into the current state of the railway system so that we all know whether the necessary measures have been taken to prevent another tragic accident.

As for SYRIZA, which attended the gathering, it would have been good if they had shown up to the gatherings for the Mati wildfire victims—which, of course, never happened for reasons we all understand.

Ten Years Since “First Time Left”
A few days ago marked ten years since the “First Time Left” government, with a sprinkle of far-right nationalism (courtesy of Panos Kammenos’ “Fatherland – Religion – Family” rhetoric), came to power with its well-documented consequences for the country. These have been analyzed extensively by journalists like us, as well as by politicians, historians, etc.

Today, I’ll share with you an unknown incident from that chaotic period, particularly the first year, 2015, when the SYRIZA-ANEL government was scrambling to find money to break Greece’s chains from the Western creditors. This, of course, turned out to be utterly impossible and utopian, despite the legendary front-page headline of the late Kouris that read: “All of Europe Hangs on Alexis’ Heavy Balls,” with a subheading: “Tsipras Took Them Out, Weighed Them, and Is Ready to Show Them.”

Before Tsipras could “show them,” however, he needed to find money because, as we all know, people can’t live on “heavy balls” alone, as the iconic headline suggested. So the SYRIZA people first went to the Chinese, who told them they could only lend a hundred million euros—an amount that wouldn’t even cover a week’s expenses, considering that Europeans and Americans collectively loaned Greece about 350 billion euros.

At the Kremlin with Putin
So, the government turned to Russia, and the great Lafazanis, then Minister of Energy, assured Alexis that all it would take was a visit and a one-on-one meeting with “Father Putin,” and Mother Russia would open her endless purse strings and drown Greece in cash, freeing the people from the oppressive European creditors.

And so, the leader (perhaps naively) agreed, and a meeting was arranged—under the guise of discussing energy cooperation—at the Kremlin between Vladimir and Alexis. Someone familiar with the content of the meeting recounts that Putin immediately left Tsipras speechless, giving him no wiggle room by explaining from the start that, yes, Russia is a great power, but it doesn’t have the ability to lend such enormous amounts to any country, let alone Greece. He also explained that politically, Russia couldn’t intervene in a country within another sphere of influence, reminding the Greek prime minister of something like: “Big guy, Churchill and Stalin settled these matters on a napkin at the end of World War II.”

We’re Besties with Angela…
What’s even more intriguing is what Putin told Tsipras at the end of their conversation, along with his rejection of the financial request. Reportedly, the Russian president told him: “Apart from everything else, you know, Alexis, Angela and I have an excellent relationship, and I wouldn’t want to spoil it!”

Putin’s statement became even clearer years later, during the Ukraine war, when it was revealed that Germany had been receiving Russian natural gas at half-price during Angela Merkel’s chancellorship.

But there’s more: the Russian president is said to have done something even more shocking. A few hours after the meeting, he allegedly called Merkel and ratted out the Greeks for coming to him asking for money. Needless to say, I can only imagine what Lafazanis heard from Tsipras afterward and how lucky we are to have avoided what could have been. Today, we’re here writing stories instead of living them.

Banks Await Ratings Verdict After Interviews
After recently being interviewed by the rating agency S&P, Greek banks are awaiting their verdict (expected later this month or early next month). The evaluation will concern only the banks and not the Greek state, as the agency has scheduled April 18 as the date for assessing the national economy.

National Insurance: Sale of Syngrou Building Postponed – Low Offers
The management of National Insurance evaluated the offers received for the sale of its property on Syngrou Avenue and decided to shelve them. Although the company remains committed to selling this prime asset, it is not willing to agree to a price lower than what it believes the property is worth.

This decision indicates that the insurer does not currently face liquidity needs. It also reflects that the offers were below the valuation threshold the company had set. Meanwhile, renovations of the company’s building on Karageorgi Servias Street are progressing to accommodate employees currently based on Syngrou Avenue back in central Athens.

Among other things, this means that if the desired price for the Syngrou property takes time to materialize, the insurer could explore alternative ways to commercially utilize the property.

Dimitris Maris’ New Company

It seems that, at least for now, the acquisition of Open by Dimitris Maris has not progressed, as Savvidis’ side has stated—yet again—that the channel is not for sale. However, Dimitris Maris, who the market believes has relocated to New York (though reliable friends tell me he’s currently residing in Filopappou), appears determined to intensify his business activity in Greece. He is already active in betting companies and media (owning news247.gr and sports24.gr).

Last Friday, January 24, the company Deep Capital Holding S.A. was established, headquartered on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, specializing in “portfolio management services”—essentially a holding company designed to host a variety of ventures. The initial share capital amounts to €700,000, corresponding to 70,000 shares of €10 each, fully contributed by Dimitris Maris.

The first Board of Directors consists of Maris as Chairman and Alexandros Chatzopoulos and Polytimi Dalamanga as members. Polytimi Dalamanga is a long-time collaborator of Maris, while lawyer Alexandros Chatzopoulos joined Deep Capital Group in November 2022 as General Manager of Corporate Affairs. In the past, Chatzopoulos has held senior positions at Philip Morris International, Papastratos, and SEV (the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises). Earlier, from 2009 to 2011, he served as a strategic planning and communications advisor in the office of Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Evidently, this new company serves as an “extension” of Dimitris Maris’ Deep Capital Group, which operates in over 10 countries, with investments in Kaizen Gaming, 24 Media Participations, and other businesses, focusing on technology, media, and real estate sectors.

Christos Megalou Honored as an Honorary Doctor at Piraeus University

In a special ceremony to be held today, the Senate of the University of Piraeus will confer an honorary doctorate on Christos Megalou, CEO of Piraeus Bank. The collaboration between the bank and the university runs deep, as they jointly created the first postgraduate program specializing in Sustainable Development: the “MBA in Sustainability powered by Piraeus.” This program is offered tuition-free and is coordinated by the university’s Department of Business Organization and Management, having launched last October.

Hochtief’s Next Moves in Greece Amid Speculation of an Exit

The Frankfurt-listed construction group Hochtief has long been absent from pursuing new major concessions or PPP contracts in Greece. Two months ago, the German-origin group struck a deal with its partners in the Olympia Odos consortium (Vinci, AVAX, GEK TERNA, and AKTOR) to sell its 17% stake in the “Olympia Odos” for €100 million. This places the total valuation of the concession at around €600 million—equivalent to what GEK TERNA estimates it will earn annually from its two major concessions, Attiki Odos and Egnatia Odos.

Hochtief operates across Europe, North America, and Australia. Since 2007, the Spanish construction giant ACS has held a 75.7% stake in the company. Rumors suggest that the Spaniards and Germans no longer see a competitive edge in the Greek market. Consequently, there is growing speculation that Hochtief’s next move will be to sell its 38.89% stake in the “Aegean Motorway” consortium. In this consortium, Hochtief holds the largest share, followed by AVAX (23.61%), AKTOR Concessions (22%), and the French group Vinci Concessions (15.18%).

Fresh Money Flows Into a Record-Breaking Stock Exchange

In recent weeks, fresh money has been pouring into the stock market, with existing players strengthening their positions, resulting in record-breaking milestones. The General Index hit a new 14-year high, aiming for the 1,550-point mark—last seen on April 7, 2011. Similarly, the FTSE 25/Large Cap index and the Mid Cap index are at 11- and 15-year highs, respectively.

Among individual stocks, PPC (Public Power Corporation) reached a 15-year high, climbing to €13.14 during the trading day before closing at €12.95—the best closing price since August 19, 2010. National Bank of Greece matched its previous record of €8.52 from May 20, 2024, with further gains taking it back to November 27, 2015, when it reached €12.1. Piraeus Bank achieved a 4-year record, surpassing €4.4 and hitting its highest level since April 2021.

Meanwhile, IDEAL Holdings will soon brief analysts and shareholders on the details of its Barba Stathis acquisition.

ECB, FED, and Banks Shape the Week

This week, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the European Central Bank on Thursday will announce decisions on interest rates for the US Dollar and the Euro, respectively. In the US, no rate cuts are expected. However, in Europe, political pressures on central bankers are immense.

If Christine Lagarde cuts Euro interest rates, highly indebted businesses will breathe a sigh of relief. On the other hand, if rates remain unchanged, banks—already driving the rise in stock markets—stand to benefit.

Meanwhile, Europe, particularly Italy, is seeing seismic shifts in banking acquisitions and mergers. After UniCredit delayed its merger with Commerzbank pending German election results, the third-largest Italian bank, Banco BPM, made a bid to acquire asset manager Anima Holding in November, only to become a target for acquisition by UniCredit shortly thereafter. Last week, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena upped the ante with a €13.3 billion offer to acquire competitor Mediobanca.

Tupperware Shuts Down in Greece

The final chapter for Tupperware in Greece has been written! Despite being one of the profitable subsidiaries of the American group, the closure could not be averted due to the parent company’s heavy burdens. About a year after the closure of its factory in Greece, the company is now ceasing all operations in the country. The parent company has decided to dissolve and liquidate the Greek subsidiary, appointing two liquidators to oversee the process.

Attica Group’s Capital Day

One week from today, Attica Holdings will kick off its “Around the World in 80 Days” tour in London, aiming for a well-executed placement to boost stock liquidity and align with the new free-float rules set by the Athens Stock Exchange.

Next Monday’s presentation, organized by UBS, Euroxx, and Piraeus Securities, will host about 30 London-based fund managers tasked with evaluating the Group’s growth prospects in light of Greece’s booming tourism sector.

Ahead of the London meeting, Attica Group’s stock surged by 7.66% on Friday, closing at €2.39—raising the valuation of Greece’s largest passenger ferry company to €581.16 million. Today, the largest shareholder of Attica Group is STRIX Holdings L.P., which controls 25.4% directly and 61.3% indirectly through its subsidiary MIG Shipping S.A. Significant room exists to expand the shareholder base—provided the consultants give the green light this time.

Greece-Italy-Poland Alliance

The next session of the European Council, set to take place at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, where EU leaders will discuss a unified European policy in response to the new Trump challenge, will mark the first Summit under the Polish Presidency of the EU. Beyond discussions on European Defense issues, new priorities for common industrial policy will also be on the agenda. At this juncture, Greece and Italy have developed a joint platform aimed at a “productive model transformation.” Greece’s Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, along with his Italian counterpart, Minister of Entrepreneurship Adolfo Urso, have already submitted a joint proposal to the presiding Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, focusing on strengthening investments, bolstering industry, and financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The timing of the Polish Presidency—following Hungary’s tumultuous and unproductive tenure—is especially critical, coinciding with the start of the EU’s new three-year funding period for 2025–2027. Greece has already submitted its own plan for transforming its productive model, while next Friday, the Greek Cabinet will include the issue of the Quality Strategy in its agenda. This marks an important legislative initiative for the National Quality System, which is a prerequisite and milestone for approving the sixth payment request from the Resilience and Recovery Fund.

Tipping Taxes, Trump, and Greece

Last Saturday, President Trump visited Las Vegas for yet another “victory lap.” He addressed hundreds of enthusiastic supporters at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. His first promise as the newly elected President was to fulfill his campaign pledge to abolish the tip taxes imposed during the Biden administration. “We’re going to get this done for you—no tax on tips,” Trump announced to a roaring crowd, standing behind a podium emblazoned with the same slogan used throughout his 2024 campaign.

Trump’s message to Nevada’s hospitality workers was crystal clear: he intends to eliminate income taxes on tips. In Las Vegas, a 24/7 economy relies heavily on tips to support thousands of workers in the hospitality industry—from waiters and valets to hotel housekeepers, hairstylists, taxi drivers, and countless others. Nevada has the highest concentration of workers in this sector, with approximately 25.8 waiters and waitresses per 1,000 jobs, followed by Hawaii and Florida. By pledging to abolish tipping taxes, Trump managed to secure electoral victories in all these states.

Interestingly, this issue also seems to resonate in Greece, where the Ministry of Finance is closely monitoring Trump’s March legislation to draw inspiration for its own fiscal reforms.

Artificial Intelligence Drives the Global Political Stage

One of the main reasons all the CEOs of the tech giants on the U.S. West Coast have openly supported Donald Trump (he even confided a few days ago that Elon Musk spearheaded his campaign in Pennsylvania!) is the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and the immense power these tech titans aim to harness by controlling AI. A striking example is Mark Zuckerberg’s interview, which was extensively covered in a New York Times feature, outlining how he plans to eliminate lower-tier programming positions at Meta. Essentially, the founder of Facebook signaled the dawn of a new labor market—one far more employer-friendly.

But then, the unexpected happened. On Christmas Day, a Chinese-origin computational model named Deepseek shook the landscape. It managed to compete against postdoctoral mathematics students at just 5% of the cost of OpenAI’s top-tier model (o1) while using only 1% of the GPU power for training. Additionally, this model demonstrated remarkable learning capabilities, is open-access, and allows operation on simple computers through a complex compression process. The sudden emergence of Deepseek prompted the hasty announcement of Project Stargate, with prominent figures like Masayoshi Son and Oracle’s Larry Ellison promising breakthroughs like curing cancer. Meanwhile, Elon Musk continues to clash with Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) on X.

This story is far from over and promises to unfold with fascinating developments.