Hello, we are now in the third week of July, and anyone following politics will have noticed that the activity of both Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself and his team continues unabated. To be clear, this is not about any weekend swim he took in Tinos, but about his packed schedule of events, visits and plenty of what we might call “homework” on the government’s outstanding business for the months ahead. That, apparently, is also why Minister of State Akis Skertsos took a short break about a week ago, to rest up so he can be at his desk throughout August. At the same time, Mitsotakis is preparing at least three trips outside Attica for the coming days. On Wednesday he will make a day trip to Northern Evia, while on the 23rd of the month he will attend the inauguration of the completed E65 motorway, which ends the isolation of Western Macedonia. Finally, on 28 July he will travel to Thessaloniki for the opening of the metro extension to Kalamaria. As for preparations for the Thessaloniki International Fair, TIF, which falls right alongside (or on top of) the elections, you can imagine what is going on between Pierrakakis and Petralia. Thanos is endlessly rewriting his spreadsheets.

And yet the polls go on
Indicative of the pre-election mood, whatever Mitsotakis ultimately decides at the end of August, is the fact that polling is still going on now, in mid-July. New Democracy is commissioning polls, but so is former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, tracking trends, running focus groups, testing specific issues. Who else would be polling, you might ask, if not Nikos? At this rate, I expect they will soon be heading to Father Fanerios at the Church of Panagia Evangelistria, the major pilgrimage site on Tinos, to ask for a miracle so that Tsipras’ numbers start deflating by autumn. I doubt it, though, either that his numbers will deflate or that anyone will actually go and ask.

A date for 2029
One aside in Mitsotakis’ speech yesterday afternoon in Chaidari, where the contract was signed for the triple road junction at Skaramagkas, was of particular interest for the post-election landscape. Given that the project will be completed in around three years, Mitsotakis, addressing businessman Evangelos Mytilineos and Mr Benroubi on behalf of METKA (Mytilineos Group’s construction arm), as well as Dimitris Koutras of Domiki Kritis, gave them a “date” in 2029 for the official opening, signalling his intention to be cutting ribbons into a third consecutive term.

SYRIZA, a new “troika” and tears
The keys to SYRIZA’s Koumoundourou headquarters formally passed yesterday into the hands of the party’s new “troika” leadership, after the last of the outgoing “presidential” loyalists finally left, following the change of guard. From now on, the party leader will be elected solely by the parliamentary group, since local branches, members and ballot boxes have effectively been left behind. Following suit were SYRIZA MPs who, on seeing the party’s Central Committee scrape together a quorum via video call, rushed back from their villages and summer festivals, and resignations began pouring in. Within days it is questionable whether SYRIZA will have even a dozen MPs left, though the succession race is turning into a thriller. Some of the contenders have already gravitated elsewhere, others want nothing more to do with SYRIZA, and others are still weighing up a choice between the duo of Pavlos Polakis and Rena Dourou, while Nikos Pappas is fighting hard to have a say in doling out posts and roles. As she left Koumoundourou yesterday after resigning, Deputy Secretary Anastasia Sapouna broke into tears while saying goodbye to staff, and took the nameplate from her office door with her on the way out.

Haggling over the budget
The Multiannual Financial Framework, the European Union’s budget for 2028 to 2034, poses a major coordination challenge for the 27 member states: the wealthier countries want cuts, while cohesion countries, Greece among them, are pushing for more funding. Last night in Brussels, the 16 members of the cohesion group met, marking the official debut of Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Chatzivasileiou. Athens does not want cuts and is insisting on balanced funding for both traditional policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion funding, and newer priorities such as security, defence and artificial intelligence. Negotiations remain tough, but the government’s goal is to secure as large a share as possible of the overall package, and there is plenty of negotiating still to come.

Spatial plans: the finishing touches at Maximos Mansion, announcements expected after 20 July
Since we mentioned that the Maximos Mansion, seat of the Prime Minister’s office, is anything but in holiday mode, let us turn to market news that will interest the business world. Greece’s three new Special Spatial Plans are entering the home straight, with the tourism plan clearly out in front of the other two. Processing of the comments submitted during public consultation is essentially complete, and the relevant draft is already at the Maximos Mansion, awaiting final political sign-off before the formal procedure begins. Second in line is the Special Spatial Plan for renewable energy sources, which proved just as demanding. The Ministry of Environment and Energy had to assess more than 1,000 comments submitted by investors, market bodies, local government, environmental organisations and citizens, a process that took considerable time. Next comes the Special Spatial Plan for industry, whose public consultation has just wrapped up and which is now being evaluated. Despite the sheer volume of comments and pressure from various sides, government sources insist there will be no drastic changes to the new spatial plans. Instead, they describe targeted interventions addressing specific issues raised during consultation, without altering the underlying philosophy or core of the new spatial planning framework. The timetable is now tight, as the Ministry aims to finalise all three Special Spatial Plans by the end of July, since they represent a key milestone under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. If the schedule holds, announcements are expected to begin after 20 July, starting with the tourism plan, followed by renewables and, last, industry, completing another key step in the government’s planning for land use and investment.

Euronext Athens oversteps: institutional investors evicted
It has caused considerable concern that Euronext Athens has chosen to stop hosting, in person, the presentations by listed companies, an institution that had been based at the Athens Stock Exchange’s premises for 15 years with steadily growing participation from companies and investors, without offering any alternative to ensure its continuity. This comes at a time when strengthening outreach and communication with the investment community ought to be a priority for every market body. Despite the new circumstances, the board of the Association of Institutional Investors has decided to preserve the continuity of an institution with a history spanning almost three decades, and is already taking the necessary steps to move the presentations to a new venue so that there is no interruption. The Association is expected to announce the new venue in September, confirming that supporting transparency, investor information and communication between listed companies and the institutional market remains a priority.

Why Euronext is showing unwarranted hostility and indifference
The decision by Euronext Athens not to make available the space at its own premises that had hosted the Association of Institutional Investors for so many years reveals, at the very least, short sightedness. It points to unwarranted hostility and indifference towards Greek institutional investors, without any clear benefit for the Athens Exchange Group, beyond perhaps the electricity bill saved during the presentations. It is plainly a foolish decision, one this column suspects makes sense only if Euronext intends to sell the building that currently houses the Athens Stock Exchange. If that is the case, evicting the Association would be an early step in winding down the more painless activities that pave the way for such a move. Should staff numbers be trimmed, which this column believes is only a matter of time, a leaner Euronext Athens could relocate to much smaller rented offices, the proceeds from selling the building would strengthen the parent company’s balance sheet, and its chief executive, Mr Bouzas, would collect a tidy bonus while boasting that the acquisition of the Athens Exchange Group had paid off. Euronext Athens is showing the same indifference towards stockbrokers, who remain in the dark awaiting the terms under which they will participate in the market.

The Skaramagkas junction, and a tête-à-tête between Mitsotakis and Koutras
Old and new blood in Greek construction came together at yesterday’s contract signing ceremony for the triple road junction at Skaramagkas, held at the Athens Botanical Garden. On one side was METKA, one of Greece’s strongest technical companies, which, in a joint venture with Domiki Kritis, will build the project. On the other was Dimitris Koutras, one of the figures whose name became synonymous with the Attiki Odos motorway, now returning to major decongestion works in the Athens basin through Domiki Kritis. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis captured the mood of the event, praising the country’s construction capacity and noting that Greek technical companies now have the know how to deliver large and highly complex infrastructure projects. He also hinted at the next major road project for Attica, the Elefsina to Oinofyta axis, in which GEK Terna has already expressed interest through the government’s unsolicited proposals scheme. The most striking moment of the event, however, came when the Prime Minister remarked that “the only mistake made on the Attiki Odos was the Metamorfosi junction,” glancing over at Dimitris Koutras, who was watching from the front row. After the ceremony, Koutras reportedly approached the Prime Minister and argued that the problem did not lie in the junction’s design but in the fact that the planned extension of Kymis Avenue was never built, something that had been a core assumption of the Attiki Odos’ original design. As he reportedly explained, through traffic from Thessaloniki and Lamia was meant to be diverted via Kymis Avenue, leaving the Metamorfosi junction to mainly serve local traffic from Menidi and the surrounding area. Because that extension was never built, the bulk of that through traffic ended up funnelled through the junction instead. The Prime Minister reportedly replied that the Kymis Avenue extension was not abandoned because it stopped being a government priority, but because the necessary funding could never be secured. It is worth recalling that the Kymis Avenue extension was included in the original Attiki Odos plan as a separate public project rather than part of the concession contract, meaning the funding burden fell on the state. The project, budgeted at 435 million euros, was put out to tender in 2021 with the AKTOR-Terna consortium as preferred bidder, but never proceeded due to a lack of funding and subsequent appeals to the Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court.

EYDAP, the rumours, and the shareholders’ general meeting
Shares in EYDAP, the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company, are trading at an 18-year high, up 15% in a month and more than 50% since the start of 2026. Market capitalisation has topped 1.3 billion euros, and brokerage offices are abuzz with one persistent question: is EYDAP preparing a share capital increase? The rumour is not baseless. The new regulatory framework from RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, based on a guaranteed return on the regulated asset base similar to the model used for energy networks, has turned what was once a “dividend stock” into a company with an infrastructure growth story. The regulated asset base is projected to jump from 3.4 billion euros in 2025 to 6.9 billion euros by 2029. At the same time, the government’s plan is loading EYDAP with municipal water utilities in Evia, Boeotia and Fokida, while the budget for the so-called “Evrytos” plan has risen to 750 million euros from 550 million. Investment on that scale requires capital, and the climate on Euronext Athens is currently favourable. Public Power Corporation, GEK Terna and the Independent Power Transmission Operator have all raised significant capital, with AKTOR and ElvalHalcor next in line. EYDAP’s management has offered no confirmation. Sources close to the column say management has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders for September, with a purely procedural agenda covering the renewal of minority shareholder representatives’ terms and related matters. Nothing, of course, rules out an additional item being added later. There is also another reading of the rumours doing the rounds: some in the market suggest that speculation about a capital increase suits investors holding short positions, who have watched the stock reward those betting long instead. GEK Terna now holds a commanding 12.7% stake in the company, alongside 659 million euros in available fresh capital. Investor attention is now focused on the Ministry of Environment and Energy’s new draft law on water management, currently in public consultation. The plan envisages a sweeping restructuring of the sector through EYDAP absorbing 43 separate water providers in total (26 municipal departments, seven municipal water utilities, eight local land reclamation organisations, and the region’s irrigation responsibilities). Taking on irrigation duties for the first time creates significant economies of scale and supports wider business plans. At the same time, the risk from absorbing the new providers’ liabilities is significantly reduced, since the state has agreed to cover 75% of the debts stemming from energy costs. Specifically, for the areas under EYDAP’s responsibility (Boeotia, Fokida, Evia and Attica), the state will cover at least 34.59 million euros of the total 40.69 million euros in debt, shoring up the listed company’s balance sheet.

Viohalco: an impressive comeback from minus four percent to above 18 euros
Viohalco staged a notable rally yesterday, erasing sharp losses that had touched minus 4% in the first half of the session. Despite initial pressure that pushed the stock down to a low of 17 euros, buyers stepped in en masse. The share ultimately closed up 2.25% at 18.18 euros, having reached an intraday high of 18.48 euros, reclaiming the psychologically important 18 euro mark. With that move, the listed company halted a four-day losing streak, offering some relief after the corrective trend that has been underway since 22 June, when it had recorded an all-time high of 22 euros. One further notable point from yesterday’s session is that Viohalco moved in the opposite direction to its subsidiaries, with both ElvalHalcor (down 0.8%) and Cenergy (down 1.2%) remaining in the red. That divergence allowed the parent company to overtake Cenergy in market capitalisation terms, with Viohalco’s valuation now standing at 4.71 billion euros against 4.62 billion euros for its subsidiary, restoring the group’s internal balance on the exchange.

Papalekas’ Paraga Beach
Yannis Papalekas has, as is well known, built something of a real estate “empire” over the years. A dealmaker among a select few, he periodically springs a surprise move that further expands his portfolio. One such surprise, given its name, is a new company set up yesterday, Monday, by individuals directly linked to his business group. The company is called “Paraga Beach” and is based at the Papalekas Group’s offices in Psychiko, an affluent northern suburb of Athens. Its stated purpose includes leasing, buying, selling and managing property, conservation and restoration services and other support services for cultural heritage, the construction of residential and non-residential buildings, and architectural plans and drawings. This suggests the company has been set up with a specific project, or projects, in mind. Its initial share capital is 25,000 euros, paid in full in cash at incorporation. The funds were put up by “Papalekas Participations and Real Estate S.A.,” based in Corinth, Yannis Papalekas’ hometown, which is therefore the sole shareholder of Paraga Beach. The first board comprises Vasileios Papalekas, head of Papalekas Participations and Real Estate S.A., as chairman and chief executive, together with Georgios Georgakis and Christos Vasileiou as members.

What shipowners fear, and why they are returning to the banks
Until a few years ago, discussion in the shipping industry centred on interest rates and loan terms. Today, more and more of the industry first examines a lender’s geopolitical identity before even considering the cost of a loan. US warnings about possible sanctions on Chinese shipping structures and leasing companies acted as a wake up call. Even without being fully implemented, the warnings were enough to send a number of shipowners looking for alternative sources of financing to reduce their exposure to future geopolitical risk. It is no coincidence that, according to shipping finance data provider Petrofin, the loan portfolios of the 40 largest banks rose to 300.6 billion dollars in 2025, while the value of the global fleet and order book reached 2.38 trillion dollars as of May 2026. Banks have found an opportunity to win back market share, while shipowners have sought greater institutional security. Talk in the shipping market now suggests that the next big test for a loan will not just be the shipowner’s creditworthiness, but whether the source of financing itself could be affected tomorrow by a new round of sanctions or another geopolitical crisis. That, perhaps, is the biggest shift this new era is bringing.

Double relief for StealthGas: compensation, and a safe passage out of Hormuz
Some shipping cases do not close easily. The Eco Wizard was one of them. The two explosions that took place in the summer of 2025 at the Russian port of Ust Luga caused considerable concern in the market, both over the circumstances of the incident and how it was handled by insurers. A year on, however, the file finally appears to be closing. Harry Vafias’ StealthGas has reached a settlement with insurers, collected the compensation, and is now proceeding to sell the vessel in its current condition, without expecting any further financial benefit from the sale. The company is choosing to move on, avoiding a lengthy repair process and the vessel’s return to the market. At the same time, another thorn has been removed. The company’s sole vessel that had been trapped in the Persian Gulf during the recent crisis passed safely through the Strait of Hormuz without incident. For a company with a fleet of 26 LPG carriers, this means it can now focus fully on day to day operations, having put two very different but equally demanding ordeals behind it.

Frangou’s investment in the next generation of engineers
Navios Maritime Partners’ backing of the National Technical University of Athens’ Prom Racing Navios team is not just another sponsorship. In shipping, where the shortage of specialised engineers and technical staff has become a constant challenge, those investing in universities today are effectively investing in tomorrow’s workforce. It is no coincidence that the company’s presence at the team’s Roll Out Event focused on the values of persistence, teamwork and continuous improvement, qualities that define both a Formula Student engineer and a modern shipping engineer. Linking academic knowledge to real world industry is becoming increasingly important, particularly at a time when the green transition and new technologies are reshaping the landscape.

PPC and Dimand
Six years ago, in 2020, the National Defence Fund ran a tender for the former Plessa military camp. Public Power Corporation (PPC) won it, with real estate developer Dimand coming second. Yesterday, the winner and the runner up announced they will now sit as equal partners at the same table. Powerhub Properties S.A., with initial share capital of 14.1 million euros, has taken over from PPC in the 55-year lease (with an option to extend by a further 10 years, at an annual rent of 2.7 million euros) and will develop the bioclimatic campus on Mesogeion Avenue 211. The budget has risen to 176 million euros, up from an initial 2024 estimate of around 110 million. The plan includes 29,900 square metres of main floor space, a strict height limit of 19.5 metres, more than 600 underground parking spaces, a target of LEED and WELL Platinum certification, and delivery by mid-2028. Construction, according to sources, has been assigned to Terna. Under the deal, PPC limits its own capital needs at a time when its investment programme is running at full tilt across networks, renewables and data centres, while Dimand takes on a major project with a secured tenant for 55 years, every developer’s dream. The company’s charter requires unanimous agreement on all key decisions, including the business plan, any new investor coming on board, borrowing and dividends. In other words, it is a marriage with a strict prenuptial agreement. Will the partnership go further? PPC sits on one of the largest and most underused real estate portfolios in the country, and Dimand knows how to turn such assets into valuable property. For now, though, both sides insist there is no similar deal currently on the table.

217 billion dollars for security and defence investment
At NATO’s first Defence Industry Forum, held on the sidelines of the Ankara Summit on 7 July, the alliance issued a formal call to action to the international financial sector, seeking more loans, more equity and more funding for the defence industry. Major banks have already responded, including Citi, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Santander, NatWest, Danske Bank and PKO Bank Polski, along with Canada’s Business Development Bank and the NATO Innovation Fund. Together, according to NATO, they have already mobilised 217 billion dollars for security and defence investment. The alliance’s defence spending target is rising from 2% to 5% of GDP by 2035, at a time when European budgets are under severe strain. As NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte put it, the private capital currently flowing into defence “is nowhere near enough.” Citi, for its part, brings something extra to the table: it is the only global bank with an uninterrupted presence in Ukraine, having set up a transparent payment mechanism for deliveries of defence equipment, a structure it believes could also be scaled up to support the country’s reconstruction. The picture is completed by a new piece of architecture. At the same summit, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the nine founding members of the new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, in which Greece is also taking part. Dubbed a “World Bank for defence,” it is targeting up to 117 billion euros in resources with operations expected to begin in 2027, alongside the European Union’s 150 billion euro SAFE defence fund. For Greece, the new bank may offer a way to keep investing in defence and “dual use” applications without adding to public debt. For decades, ESG criteria kept banks away from weapons. Today, security has been rebranded as “sustainability.”

A war that has forgotten why it started
Four and a half months have passed since the first night of bombing on 28 February. In that time, the US-Iran war has shifted both its target and its purpose. The strikes began in order to halt a nuclear programme. Today they are being carried out to reopen a strait that was open before the war began. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared the Strait of Hormuz officially closed “until further notice” to all shipping on Sunday, sending Brent crude up 4.2% to 79.2 dollars a barrel. US President Donald Trump maintains that the sea route “remains open.” Natural gas prices are following their own logic, with the Dutch TTF benchmark up nearly 4% to 50.7 euros per megawatt hour. US Central Command has struck around 90 targets, including coastal radar, missile sites and naval assets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and Tehran has responded with missile and drone strikes on US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Iran’s strategy is economically efficient and militarily cheap: it does not need to fully close the strait, only to periodically strike individual commercial vessels, keeping insurance premiums high and demonstrating that passage depends on Tehran’s consent. Last week, the Qatari LNG tanker Al Rekayat and a Saudi supertanker were both hit. For Europe, the stakes tied to this war have an expiry date: winter. Before the war, some 20% of the world’s LNG passed through the strait, with Qatar alone covering 12% to 14% of European imports. Every week of uncertainty in the Gulf translates into a more expensive winter for households and industry. In Greece, LNG has become the backbone of the energy mix, which makes its price a matter of real significance.

America is running out of oil
The Wall Street Journal has reported that US Strategic Petroleum Reserves have fallen to 340 million barrels, their lowest level since 1983. Even that figure is now out of date: more recent data from the US Energy Information Administration, the independent statistical and analytical arm of the US Department of Energy, shows that reserves had dropped further still, to 319.5 million barrels for the week ending 3 July, the lowest level since April 1983, when the Reagan administration was still filling the reserve for the first time. Six years ago, in May 2020, US Strategic Petroleum Reserves stood at a much fuller 637.8 million barrels. The overall picture is even more concerning: total US reserves (commercial stocks plus the strategic reserve) have fallen to 734 million barrels, the lowest level since 1984, with refineries running at 96.6% of capacity. Institutionally, the reserve is meant to remain at least 20% full to stay operationally viable, according to Mike Sommers, head of the American Petroleum Institute. From a technical standpoint, a report from the US Government Accountability Office, the country’s top audit body and the American equivalent of Greece’s Court of Audit, dated 29 June, warns that ageing infrastructure and deferred maintenance are already limiting the reserve’s operational capacity. Then there is the weather to consider: a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico would find America without its usual safety cushion. The war, in short, is draining America’s oil reserves.