– Hello there. So, the winds have died down, the gales have eased up—if only temporarily—and the heat has clamped down. Now, in Patmos, where I imagine Vangelis Antonaros is, I don’t know if it’s a tad warmer, but the man understandably lost it. Because he’s thinking: “All my life I’ve been used to dealing with men of honor (Karamanlis of Rafina, Tsipras, etc.) and now you, Mr. Stefanos, are pulling a fast one on me? Now that you’ve realized I’m the one who’ll make you a sure-fire prime minister by 2030, you’re backing out—when you had promised to make me President of the Republic, and with notarial certification, no less?”
So here’s a proposal for the TV programming directors, now that they’re putting together the fall schedule: bring back Annita Pania (wherever she may be) and have her revive “Paratragouda” starring Kasselakis, Antonaros, and other party officials. If Annita isn’t up for it, don’t sweat it—just give us Stefanos and Antonaros, or both of them together. Late-night slot for the “New Paratragouda,” okay?

Which “blue” names are in the running for the Inquiry Committee

– I’m hearing that the Maximos Mansion is intensively preparing for the Inquiry Committee on OPEKEPE to make sure nothing goes off the rails. For that reason, the Prime Minister’s aides are vetting the individuals who will be placed on the committee. While nothing is set in stone yet, here’s a preliminary list of names making the rounds: MP for Pella, Lakis Vasileiadis (even rumored to be a candidate for committee chair), Zetta Makri, Makarios Lazaridis, and Fotini Arabatzi.
I’m also hearing that in the coming days, there will be meetings with all those who served as Agriculture Ministers from 2019 to the present. That means M. Voridis, S. Livanos, G. Georgantas, L. Avgenakis, and the current minister, K. Tsiaras.

Theoretical worries and actual calculations

– Staying with the internal movements within the “blue” parliamentary group, here’s something else I picked up. The government side wants to avoid any potential “off-notes” during the secret ballot on the opposition’s Preliminary Examinations, where there will be two separate ballot boxes—one for Voridis and one for Avgenakis.
In theory, the “no” votes should be 154 and the “yes” votes 142. If the “yes” votes turn out higher, it’ll mean that an ND MP voted in favor of referring the former ministers.
That’s why detailed briefings are being held on the European Prosecutor’s case file and the lack of evidence indicating criminal acts.

Paval’s plans for Praktiker and the sharp-eyed Watsa

– Turns out Prem Watsa was way ahead of the curve. Back in 2014, when he bought Praktiker Hellas, he stated, “We continue to believe in the recovery of the Greek economy under the leadership of Prime Minister Samaras.” Now that Samaras hears history calling him once again, Watsa has sold Praktiker Hellas.
A cold joke from this column, but I couldn’t help myself.
Watsa, who bet (as he had in Ireland) on a fast Greek recovery, became a long-term investor in Greece and, like a true pro, would play the same tape for every prime minister he met—even Alexis. And let’s be honest: it worked out just fine for him, more than fine.
When he bought Praktiker Hellas in 2014, the price wasn’t announced. Market chatter at the time said €22 million, with the most optimistic estimates going up to €30 million. The first number is likely more accurate.
Now it’s said that Fairfax sold for €120 million—a solid return, though the comparison isn’t perfect, since the deal now includes Eurobank real estate (read: Grivalia).
Either way, it’s a great deal. The Romanian group knows the retail game well, and kudos go to both the Praktiker Hellas management and Fairfax.
Paval Holding made the acquisition with big plans to expand into Southeast Europe, especially the Balkans, and is already planning moves in Skopje and Bulgaria.
It also has ambitious plans for Greece, including new stores in Attica and at least two more in the regions.

Tomorrow—barring surprises—the Generali–Euroclinic deal goes public

– Tomorrow, Friday—unless something unexpected comes up—Generali is set to announce its acquisition of Euroclinic. The company aims to bring a new dynamic to the primary and secondary healthcare market.
Generali is already the third-largest insurance firm in Greece, having acquired AXA Hellas in 2021 and formed a bancassurance partnership with Alpha Bank. Now it’s strengthening its position in the health services sector.

The Emiratis’ visit to the Maximos Mansion

– Last week, following a sudden invitation, a legendary figure in the field of Artificial Intelligence passed through the gates of the Maximos Mansion—Peng Xiao, CEO of G42.
G42 is the UAE’s state-owned technology and innovation company. It’s structured as a holding company, with subsidiaries like Inception AI (AI platforms), Core42 (datacenters), M42 (health), and AIQ (energy).
In the past 8 months, G42 has ramped up its international outreach, signing major government-to-government (gov2gov) AI framework agreements across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
It also holds a deal with former President Trump and the UAE Stargate initiative for the development of 5GW AI datacenters—the world’s most ambitious infrastructure program in AI.
A sign of the Emiratis’ ability to close cross-border deals worth hundreds of millions is G42’s $400 million agreement with Russia’s state bank, Sber, signed just three weeks ago during President Putin’s visit to Abu Dhabi!
Recently, Greece—and Europe more broadly—has entered the Emiratis’ radar, mainly due to the European AI gigafactory initiative, through which a €20 billion fund will invest in building five AI datacenters, each costing €3–5 billion, on European soil.
As is known, PPC (Public Power Corporation of Greece) has expressed interest in participating in the program and is already seeking a tenant for its Kozani datacenter.
The Prime Minister, a proponent of digitization and AI adoption, listened to the delegation’s proposals, and I assume that collaboration possibilities are now being explored.

Activity in the insurance market

– Developments with National Insurance have opened Pandora’s box. The acquisition of National Insurance is moving forward, with the process being handled internally while awaiting approval from the Competition Commission.
Meanwhile, NN and Ergo are anxiously seeking a banking group to support their bancassurance operations, which so far have accounted for the bulk of their revenue and profits.
Yesterday, the market was abuzz with rumors of a possible approach between National Bank and Dutch-based NN, which has a strong life insurance arm but lags in other areas.

HIIF has launched… the study
– We’d been hearing about it for years, but now it’s a reality. In recent days, the new national investment fund of the Superfund (Υπερταμείο) was officially registered in GEMI, under the trade name HIIF. The initial share capital is €303.5 million. A financial powerhouse aiming to leverage national infrastructure projects by attracting foreign investors—primarily other sovereign funds. The management team, led by Executive Chairman Giorgos Kofinákos and CEO Stelios Fragos, is already reviewing various investment proposals.

The Athens Stock Exchange draws in Europe’s capital
– Gold may be up a little over 27%, but the General Index at the Athens Stock Exchange has yielded a 33% return since the start of the year. In the same period, Germany’s DAX is up 2.12%, France’s CAC 40 just +5%, and the UK’s market +9%. In the US, the Nasdaq 100 is up +37%, though in dollars that have significantly depreciated. For the fourth year running, the Athens Stock Exchange is delivering strong returns—without any hype—compared to company performances and results. This year, Athens has outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets index to which it technically still belongs. Greece has weathered its “memorandum storm”, managed the pandemic and wars, balanced its public finances, and now produces impressive surpluses. Its growth rate is more than twice the European average. All this has made Athens a magnet for investment capital. The Greek market may lack depth for major leaps, but that’s precisely why Euronext’s proposal is on the horizon.

Money is coming out of trading
– Without losing the upward momentum of the ASE, everyone is trying, in this bull cycle, to lock in profits while staying connected to the market. Pretty much the same is happening across all major stock exchanges these days. A case in point: in the earnings announced yesterday by Goldman Sachs, they recorded the best quarter in stock trading profits in Wall Street’s history. With $4.3 billion in equity trading revenue in Q2—about $600 million above analyst forecasts and $100 million above Q1.
In Athens, the General Index closed at 1,958.56 points (-0.12%) but the €227.3 million in trades had a different focus. Roughly €42.8 million were pre-arranged trades, mainly in National Bank, Piraeus, Eurobank, as well as in OTE and AKTOR. OTE (+1.26%) stood out yesterday—not because it hit €15.24—but because its rise came as PPC (-0.48%) dropped to €14.4, HelleniQ Energy (-0.32%) to €7.67, and Cenergy (-1.31%) to €10.56, all of which had been rising when OTE had been slipping. Yesterday, National Bank (+0.6%) was the only bank stock to rise to €11.8—unlike the previous day when it was hit by sell-offs while other banks gained. Jumbo (+1.66%) hit a new all-time high of €30.64, TITAN fell (-1.73%) to €37, while Fourlis (+0.68%) is riding its own little streak with 7 consecutive green sessions and total gains of +15.1%, reaching €4.45.

GEK TERNA – Motor Oil: Together in energy, together in record highs
– The recent deal between GEK TERNA and Motor Oil is fueling their stock performance, as the two companies build the third energy pillar of the market through the merger of Heron and nrg. GEK TERNA is consolidating above €21, extending its 25-year high. Yesterday, the stock closed at €21.08, reached an intraday high of €21.34, and now targets the €22.4 mark from January 10, 2000. Gains in 2025 alone exceed +14%, with the group’s market cap approaching €2.2 billion.
Motor Oil, with its foot firmly on the gas, has gained at least 4.5% in the last two days—equal to over €1 in gains (from €24.7 on July 14 to €25.82 on July 16). Year-to-date, it’s jumped more than 25%, valued at €2.86 billion, and trading at its highest levels in 13 months.

Summer in commercial shipping
– The freight market has suddenly sprung to life over the past 10 days, especially in dry bulk shipping. Mid-size vessels are doing particularly well. Normally, seasonality in freight markets kicks in later in the summer, but this year demand is rising earlier—maybe for technical reasons—but what matters is that shipping companies now have a window to lock in the year’s profits and, with 2–3 good moves, significantly improve their financials. As is well known, in shipping the big bucks aren’t made from freight rates, but from buying and selling ships—provided, of course, you buy low and sell high.

Fast-track payments with just the application
– The Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family launched an awareness program for diversity aimed at private-sector employees—at record speed. The program was announced with a target of 80,000 participants. Applications shot up to 96,000, and 68,000 employees have already been certified for completing the online seminar. While the initial plan was for payments to begin at the end of August, the ministry is now gearing up for… early payouts from late July to early August.

Trump’s clever crypto move
– President Trump, beaming with enthusiasm, informs Americans on social media that this is a “great crypto week,” as Congress is set to vote on a bill that “will make America the undisputed No. 1 leader in digital assets.” He’s referring to the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act), which establishes stablecoins—digital assets issued for payments and redeemable at a fixed value (e.g., $1). Stablecoins are backed by U.S. Treasury bonds. As transaction volumes in stablecoins increase, so does demand for Treasuries and U.S. dollars. In this way, the PotUS supports the crypto market while also bolstering the turbulent bond market in dollars.

The rich are fleeing the UK to dodge taxes
– Labour governments have always been synonymous with tax hikes. Keir Starmer’s government has already begun spending money it doesn’t have, and analysts are expecting a fresh tax raid this fall. Recently, Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled plans for major increases in public spending—starting with £14.2 billion for nuclear infrastructure and £15.6 billion for regional transport, along with the expansion of free school meals and winter heating subsidies. Labour has also pledged to raise defense spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP by 2027–28, while ministers are talking about “major boosts” in investment for schools, hospitals, and roads. None of this is possible without new taxes—which is why, for those who can, the UK is already being swapped for tax havens like the UAE, Portugal, Singapore, and parts of southern Europe. Professionals, businesspeople, and retirees with international ties are looking for more stable environments with lower taxes. According to HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), net emigration among top earners has now reached its highest level since 2008.