The way he reacts whenever he catches sight of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is almost as if he’s seen a ghost — I simply don’t understand it. Doesn’t he realise how well [Nikos] Sgouros is doing? Why did he have to bolt, as though terrified of bumping into him or being made to stand beside him? Still, I’ll say it again: he was right to leave, even if political pressure was the real reason behind it. Meanwhile, the political world carries on speculating about when the Prime Minister will call the election. Some insist he’s made up his mind and will see it through to the end, and there’s no doubt Mitsotakis is in full campaign mode, barely letting a day or an hour pass without an appearance somewhere.

Alexis Tsipras, the former Prime Minister and SYRIZA founder, by contrast, was reportedly spotted on flight A3687 from Olbia to Athens the day before yesterday, returning from a holiday in Sardinia. He’ll no doubt spend his time grumbling about Sokratis Famellos, the party’s outgoing leader, who has resigned, and about the bruising contest under way at Koumoundourou — SYRIZA’s Athens headquarters — for control of the party, a battle some are likening to England versus Norway. As we’ve noted before, [Yiannis] Pavlaras and his allies have no intention of standing aside quietly; they’re planning a protest march this weekend. SYRIZA may have haemorrhaged supporters and voters, but it still controls its coffers, its headquarters and other assets worth fighting over.

Money tracing

Since we’re on the subject of assets, New Democracy — the governing centre-right party — is showing considerable interest in how two of the three new parties are being funded: those led by Tsipras and by Antonis Samaras, the former Prime Minister and ex-New Democracy leader. Call it “money tracing” if you like, but scrutiny of the two ex-premiers’ funding sources has begun in earnest. As everyone knows, Greece is a small village, and it’s practically impossible to hide who’s bankrolling whom. Expect plenty more of this as the campaign enters its final stretch.

Mylos

A little deeper into SYRIZA’s troubles now. Screenwriters are tearing up their scripts as events unfold within the once-dominant left-wing party, which continues to produce one drama after another. Famellos reportedly lost his temper yesterday on realising that MPs and senior officials would boycott Saturday’s Central Committee meeting, forcing headquarters to cancel it altogether. The trio of Pavlos Polakis, Rena Dourou and Nikos Pappas, however, refuse to accept the cancellation; they reportedly spent the entire night counting supporters and are preparing to seize control of the party, while other officials scramble in panic towards Tsipras’s camp. Even so, the three of them can’t agree on a leadership model between themselves, since Polakis is “primed” to run for the leadership and, this time, stands closer than ever to succeeding.

Mitsotakis’s revolver at the War Museum

Several European leaders were left stunned by the parting gift Recep Tayyip Erdoğan handed them after the NATO summit, only realising once they’d left that they were carrying a pistol and live ammunition. The revelations began with the UK’s Keir Starmer, who said he couldn’t take his home owing to Britain’s ban on importing firearms, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz left his at the German embassy in Ankara. Belgium’s Prime Minister discovered the gift at Brussels airport and left the weapon there until officials worked out what to do with it. In Athens, meanwhile, there was some laughter when Mitsotakis unwrapped a long-barrelled revolver engraved with his name, complete with live rounds, from the Turkish delegation. He’s said to have decided to donate it to the War Museum in Athens for display — though it might, some joked, come in useful in certain situations.

Athens’s conclusions on NATO

In Athens, officials are calmly taking stock of what happened at the NATO summit. A senior diplomatic source made clear that Greece cannot veto the prospective sale of F-35 fighter jets by the United States to Turkey, but will insist on conditions guaranteeing they are never used against a NATO ally — in other words, against Greece. It also didn’t go unnoticed in Athens that Erdoğan claimed the Turks “don’t know what a casus belli is” — a reference to Ankara’s standing threat of war should Greece extend its territorial waters — although there is currently little appetite in Athens to push further on resolving the broader Greek-Turkish dispute or on a joint referral to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Until that issue is settled, Greece will keep blocking Turkey’s full integration into Europe’s defence architecture.

Plenty of food

To wrap up on the NATO summit: gossip circulating even within the Greek delegation concerned the sheer quantity and quality of the food served by the Turkish hosts. Mitsotakis was said to be impressed by the dinner Erdoğan laid on, prepared by a two-Michelin-starred Turkish chef, while every summit venue housing the various delegations was stocked with vast amounts of food to suit every palate — from kebabs and döner to an endless spread of desserts.

The Motor Oil-AKTOR alliance, and rumours of a third deal

New dynamics are emerging in the market following yesterday’s announcement of a second consecutive agreement between the energy group Motor Oil and the construction and infrastructure group AKTOR. Under the deal, AKTOR acquires 50% of Dioryga Gas — the company behind the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) at Agioi Theodoroi. Motor Oil described the move as part of its broader strategy to build critical energy infrastructure and expand its footprint in the natural gas value chain, alongside further development of the FSRU project through a wider financial, operational and commercial base. Should a third Motor Oil-AKTOR agreement in the energy sector follow, as rumoured, the two groups could be on course for a strategic alliance that reshapes the market.

The shipowner has stepped up his game

Agreements signed back in January have now been funded: METLEN, the Greek industrial and energy group formerly known as Mytilineos, has acquired a 40% stake in a special-purpose vehicle owned by the Tsakos Group, the shipping company, to build one of the country’s largest hybrid renewable energy projects, in central Greece. The plant will combine a 251.9 MW photovoltaic array with a 375 MWh battery — one of the biggest storage facilities planned for the Greek market. Construction begins this year, with completion pencilled in for early 2028. The Tsakos Group holds the remaining 60% stake, redirecting shipping profits into next-generation renewables; these days, power generation without storage is regarded less as an investment than as exposure to negative prices. METLEN, for its 40% share, takes charge of construction, energy management and commercial operations. All the power generated at the Domokos site is earmarked for METLEN under a long-term bilateral power purchase agreement, feeding into the portfolio that supplies Aluminium of Greece, METLEN’s aluminium subsidiary, and industrial customers of Protergia, its energy retail arm, across Greece and the Balkans. The shipowner secures a predictable return; the industrialist gains what amounts to a private supply of low-cost green energy, insulated from wholesale market volatility.

Igoumenitsa chosen as base for Block 2 drilling with ExxonMobil, Energean and HELLENiQ Energy

Preparations for the first exploratory well in Block 2, an offshore hydrocarbon licence west of Greece, are proceeding rapidly as the consortium of Energean, ExxonMobil and HELLENiQ Energy enters the final phase of preparatory work to meet a demanding timeline. Reliable sources say the consortium has chosen the port of Igoumenitsa as its support base for the drilling operation, after a months-long evaluation that also considered bids from Patras and Astakos. The decision weighed proximity to the drilling site alongside the port’s operational capacity, infrastructure, land availability and ability to support demanding offshore work. The same sources report accelerating procedures, with Energean, as concession operator, expected shortly to submit the Environmental Impact Study for the exploratory drilling to Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy. Approval of that study is a critical milestone, clearing the way for subsequent permits and the start of operations. The timeline is tight: all approvals must be finalised by autumn to avoid delays, since the exploratory well marks the next major step in assessing hydrocarbon potential off western Greece. Competition among the three candidate ports was intense, given that hosting an offshore exploratory well generates significant economic activity locally, from logistics and supply chains to technical support, transport, catering and specialist staffing.

PPC is on top, and staying there

An advert launched yesterday promotes “solar panels with no equipment cost.” Public Power Corporation (PPC), Greece’s dominant electricity utility, is introducing a solar-as-a-service model to the Greek market — the approach that made Sunrun famous in the United States — turning customers’ roofs into privately owned power-generation units. PPC covers the full cost of design, procurement, installation, operation, maintenance and insurance, charging a low activation fee and nothing for the equipment itself. Customers pay for the energy their roof generates at a fixed price per kilowatt-hour, locked in for ten years, with a guaranteed annual reduction of at least 20% on their electricity bill. A battery option is available, with monitoring handled through PPC’s myEnergy Coach app. The initiative has two notable features. First, it targets households and businesses with annual consumption above 8,500 kWh — well above the average residential customer — effectively aiming squarely at the premium end of the market: homes with heat pumps, electric cars and swimming pools. Second, the ten-year contract functions as both a financing tool and a powerful means of customer retention. PPC is thereby building a diversified energy portfolio without buying a single square metre of land, since rooftops are made available voluntarily. The scheme operates purely on a net billing basis: customers pay a fixed, pre-agreed price for whatever their roof produces, while surplus power is sold into the wholesale market — with all that implies during midday hours, when prices can fall to zero amid a glut of solar supply.

How is Bally’s Intralot’s acquisition of Evoke progressing?

The acquisition of Evoke, the UK-listed gambling group formerly known as 888, by Bally’s Intralot — the merged Greek-American betting and gaming group — is proceeding smoothly and remains on track to complete in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early 2027. The Scheme Document, the key filing to be sent to Evoke’s shareholders setting out the terms, timeline and dates of the shareholder meetings needed to approve the deal, will now be published and circulated by 24 July, later than the 28 days originally envisaged following the deal’s announcement on 5 June 2026. Sources close to the process say the short delay was needed to finish preparing the legal and corporate documentation, along with certain procedural steps before the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, which plays a decisive role in completing the transaction. Evoke shareholders will be asked to approve the deal at a special meeting, after which it requires ratification by the Gibraltar court. As part of the acquisition, Evoke shareholders will primarily receive new Bally’s Intralot shares — 0.537 new shares for every Evoke share held — to be issued via a capital increase and listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. Shareholders will also have the option of a cash alternative of £0.52 per share for some or all of their holding. Once the necessary approvals are secured and the remaining conditions met, the acquisition will become binding on all the company’s shareholders. In parallel, applications for regulatory approval are already under way.

Tzirakian: close to a loan-restructuring deal with National Bank of Greece

Tzirakian Profile Pipe Works, the steel-pipe manufacturer, doesn’t have the lowest market capitalisation on the Athens Stock Exchange — it’s valued at just over €6.5 million — but it appears to be writing its own revival story from its base in Oinofyta. The company has called shareholders to an Annual General Meeting on 29 July, with an agenda that signals change: a share buyback programme, executive stock awards and special authorisations allowing management to enter into new contracts. Reports suggest the buyback will cover 150,000 shares. The more significant story lies elsewhere: banking sources say management has reached agreement with the National Bank of Greece on a comprehensive restructuring of €7-8 million in debt, at an interest rate of Euribor plus 1.5% over three years. If confirmed, this would close a lengthy round of talks with creditor banks that management has publicly acknowledged since 2024. Market sources are linking Tzirakian’s efforts to potential participation in defence programmes that could transform its revenues, and are not ruling out future capital injections. The 2025 financial year closed with losses of €1.13 million on revenue of €21.62 million, a marked improvement on 2024’s €3.74 million loss; the company remains unprofitable overall. On the stock market, the share price has gained more than 12% over the past month, reaching €2.15, and is up 52% year-on-year. Vice-president Lymparet Tzirakian has been buying continuously since May, lifting his stake from 15.53% to 17.10%.

The water sector in flux — who’s selling EYATH

Water has become the market’s new darling. It began on 3 March 2026, when a subsidiary of George Peristeris’s GEK TERNA, the Greek construction and energy conglomerate, bought a 9.71% stake in EYDAP, the Athens water utility, from investor John Paulson for €103.4 million, at €10 a share — a 36.8% premium to that day’s closing price. By the end of March, the stake had risen to 12.71%. Since then, EYDAP’s share price has climbed from €7.30 to €12.40, a 217-month high. At the time, this column noted that GEK TERNA had paid a hefty premium for what is normally seen as a “boring” utility. It now looks as though the group was buying into the new regulatory framework introduced on 1 January 2026 by Greece’s water regulator, which locks in a four-year revenue outlook worth roughly €78 million in additional allowed revenue, alongside preferential participation in a €2.5 billion investment programme whose flagship project is supplying Athens with water from Lake Kremasta. Entirely coincidentally, the Aktor Group has formed an alliance specifically for water with Suez, the French utility group. In Thessaloniki, EYATH, the city’s water utility, is being bolstered by new tariff schedules for 2025-2029 approved by Greece’s energy regulator, RAE, in May and applied retroactively from 1 May. EYATH’s share price has tried to keep pace with EYDAP’s rally, but according to market sources, every approach towards €5 triggers unusually heavy panic-selling. The likely explanation dates to December 2025, when the Greek state’s Superfund holding company sold a block of shares via accelerated bookbuild; the proceeds from that sale appear to be finding their exit at the €5 level. Even so, major construction groups look set to maintain their interest in water infrastructure projects, given the incoming regulatory framework, the national water strategy and the restructuring of heavily indebted municipal water utilities — all of which point to water finally acquiring a regulated, calculable return.

The investment strategy being reassessed before the ink is dry

Piraeus Bank’s Economic Analysis and Investment Strategy division presented its third-quarter report yesterday, noting with a touch of irony the disappointment of those who had confidently predicted long-term disruption to global crude supply chains: the decline in energy prices was swift and immediate, even before the relevant ceasefire agreement was finalised. Markets, with their customary sense of humour, wasted no time testing that view. Following attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, US strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets, and Donald Trump’s declaration that the ceasefire “is over,” Brent crude climbed back towards $78-80 a barrel. Even with geopolitical risk back in focus, crude remains more than 35% below April’s high of $126. The doom-mongers predicting perpetual turmoil have yet to be proven right, and the case for a “fragile normalisation” of markets is being tested once again. The rest of Piraeus’s report reflects cautious equilibrium: the bank is neutral on US equities, on the grounds that it remains unclear how the benefits of artificial intelligence will be shared between those building it and those using it; mildly negative on the eurozone and Japan, with a gradual rotation from growth towards value and a tilt towards emerging markets; and, on bonds, expects the European Central Bank (ECB) to be pushed by inflation from a hawkish stance towards neutral, or even dovish. Piraeus stays positive on European corporate bonds, with the main risk being correlation to US bonds, where the long end of the yield curve remains haunted by fiscal risk and Japanese interest rates.

From “Hercules” to the World Bank for defence and security

Greece’s membership of the new Defense and Security Research Board (DSRB) positions the country as an equal partner at the table of a global organisation whose decisions will shape defence and energy infrastructure at a time of geopolitical upheaval. Following tough negotiations, Greece has secured a substantial say in shaping the new international defence and security architecture, strengthening its national interests in the process. The new bank is also expected to support small and medium-sized enterprises that form the supply chain across defence, security, cybersecurity, energy infrastructure (networks and cable-laying), innovation (drones) and pharmaceuticals. The Montreal talks that established this new multilateral financial institution were led to a successful conclusion by George Zavvos, president of the Hellenic Development Bank, who made his name as Deputy Finance Minister overseeing the “Hercules” scheme, a securitisation programme that played a decisive role in reducing non-performing loans and stabilising the Greek banking system.

Rafina’s first challenge isn’t the master plan

At Rafina, one of the ports serving Athens, all the signs suggest the Ministry of Shipping has chosen to tackle day-to-day operational problems first before opening the wider debate on major infrastructure works. Speaking in Parliament, Deputy Shipping Minister Stefanos Gikas referred to ongoing talks between Shipping Minister Vasilis Kikilias and ferry operators, indicating the ministry isn’t waiting for the port’s master plan to clear its institutional process before seeking to improve matters through better scheduling coordination. Local community reaction, reservations from local government, and the master plan’s pending final approval combine to make this a delicate balancing act, in which every move carries weight. Reducing congestion at peak times can therefore serve as an initial, immediate step, without pre-empting the eventual decisions on the port’s long-term future.

Greeks on fire: a flurry of newbuild orders

The dry bulk shipping market is entering a phase of intense investment, with new orders up 66% in the first half of 2026 and Greek shipowners emerging as major players. According to analysis from Xclusiv Shipbrokers, Greek companies signed 69 of the 285 new contracts placed worldwide — nearly a quarter of the total — while taking delivery of 76 newly built vessels, around 25% of global deliveries. While many shipowners internationally remain cautious given costs, new fuel technologies and regulatory uncertainty, Greek owners are showing they’d rather invest now than keep weighing the risks.

Hubris and… Pompeii

At the Posidonia shipping exhibition a few weeks ago, this column spoke to one of Greece’s most successful dry bulk shipowners — a low-key figure with one of the highest-quality fleets in the world and an unimpeachable track record. He didn’t want to talk about freight rates or new orders. Instead, he raised something rather more interesting. “I have the feeling we’re committing hubris,” he said without hesitation. “We’ve made fortunes in shipping — some would call it untold wealth. And the worst part is we’ve made it, and are still making it, effortlessly. I worry that at some point we might have our own Pompeii.” His concern wasn’t about a new market cycle or a temporary correction in freight rates, but something closer to a warning that good fortune can too easily be taken for granted.

Poland: 60% emergency tax on fuel distributors

Poland has imposed a special levy on fossil fuel distributors covering the period from March to December this year, with the revenue earmarked for energy subsidies to cushion consumers from the energy crisis. The Polish government hopes to raise around €950 million through the measure. The tax, set at 60%, applies to “excess profits” — earnings that exceed the equivalent period of 2025 by more than 20%. Between 20 and 30 companies are expected to fall within its scope, including fuel producers and importers. State-controlled energy group Orlen is expected to bear the brunt, estimated to account for around 60% of the total revenue raised. Since late March, Poland has also introduced retail price caps on petrol and diesel, cut VAT on fuel from 23% to 8%, and reduced excise duty to the minimum level permitted under EU rules.

Money is running out, even for investment-grade borrowers

Last March, Amazon raised $37 billion in the fourth-largest corporate bond sale in US history, with the offering spectacularly oversubscribed. On Tuesday 7 July, Amazon tried to repeat that success, returning to the dollar bond market to raise at least $25 billion across eight tranches of varying maturities, saying the proceeds would go primarily towards artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centres. This time, demand fell short of $62 billion — roughly half the orders seen in March — and once underwriters tightened the final pricing, orders shrank further to $41 billion, leaving the deal just 1.6 times covered. Behind the scenes, the secondary bond market was in turmoil, with many investors selling existing hyperscaler bonds to make room in their portfolios for the new issuance: fresh money was running low, and recycling of existing funds had begun. Amazon alone has issued more than $100 billion in bonds over the past year, while total bond issuance tied directly to artificial intelligence has already topped $335 billion worldwide this year. Morgan Stanley forecasts the figure will reach $570 billion by the end of 2026. Amazon itself is budgeting $200 billion in capital expenditure this year, up from $131 billion in 2025. Over the same period, SpaceX’s debut bond fell sharply on the secondary market, a development few had anticipated just weeks earlier. The message is clear: investment-grade credit remains solid, but available capital is not inexhaustible, with governments, established companies and hyperscalers all now competing for liquidity from the same pool. The 10-year US Treasury yield stands above 4.5%, and corporates are paying even more to borrow. Amazon, for its part, has told underwriters it won’t return to the bond markets again this year.

Source: newmoney.gr