Hello, we had announced as of the day before yesterday that Mitsotakis would give a taste in yesterday’s interview of the measures to support people through the difficult winter ahead, due to the prolonged and apparently intensifying energy crisis. You will have read the details of the support measures, although most of them will be announced next week. I will note a few key points. First, he will not impose an extraordinary levy on refineries for a third time, as other EU countries will do. And this is because… “three times is the limit of foolishness” (literally, “three times the mistake is not the act of a wise man”), because we also have elections, but leaving the humor aside, it would be neither right nor fair from a business perspective for a state to keep imposing extraordinary levies, because by now they are no longer extraordinary, and because the very concept of doing business ceases to function if, at every opportunity, the state pretends to be a partner only when there are profits. Otherwise, K.M. also backed Pavlos Marinakis, making it clear, of course, that his view on benefits is a personal one. He also fully backed Giorgos Floridis, essentially saying that a lack of government is a risk and is possible given that none of the opposition parties wants to cooperate. He courteously placed Karamanlis in the category of “inactive politician – former prime minister,” although of course that is not exactly the case either, although I am learning that KKR is already on a road trip with Budapest as its final destination. As for Kasidiaris, Mitsotakis went as far as he needed to, namely that the existing law covers the prohibition on creating a party for this particular person, but in any event the whole issue remained somewhat vague. Now, eight months before the elections, it is a little difficult to give convincing and sincere answers regarding Velopoulos and Latinopoulou.

The meeting on the Development Law

Among his many obligations, K.M. had a meeting yesterday at the Maximos Mansion with Takis Theodorikakos and other officials from the Development Ministry regarding the progress of the Development Law. The project is of great interest to both the Maximos Mansion and the Development Ministry, since money is being given to businesses that make investments and create well-paid jobs, thereby having a positive impact on the productive model. Today Theodorikakos will be in Heraklion, Crete, where he will visit two important investments that have been included under the umbrella of the Development Law, while in total more than 90 investment plans in Crete have been included, with a total value of more than €266 million and support exceeding €140 million. More than half concern manufacturing, agri-food and the primary sector. Overall, more than 600 productive investments in industry, worth more than €2 billion, are “underway” across the country, resulting in the creation of more than 10,000 jobs.

Kerameus’s measure for TEAs and the banks

In the aftermath of the summer and in the wake of the Thessaloniki International Fair, an important legislative initiative by Labor Minister Niki Kerameus slipped under the radar, as the ministry legislated at the end of August to improve the framework for Occupational Insurance Funds (TEAs), bringing about significant changes to the way they operate. The aim of the changes is to give employees the opportunity to “build” a second, supplementary pension, in addition to the state pension, by providing significant tax incentives with increased contribution ceilings and lower taxation of benefits as the retirement age rises. Under the regulation, an employee can put up to 35% of their salary into an account annually, either with their own money or with money from their employer. In practice, an employer who may want to provide an employee with a salary benefit can do so by putting money into a TEA account, since there are no contributions. Of course, the employee will not be able to withdraw the money immediately, as these funds are intended for savings, and when they do withdraw them there will be a minimum tax burden of around 2.5%. In addition, the changes allow employees of small businesses to participate in the new “Open Funds,” for whom access to occupational insurance had previously been particularly difficult, while an employee who happens to change jobs or professional status will be able to transfer their vested rights from one TEA to another without losing anything. I am also told that the banks will soon launch relevant products, as they are very interested. Certainly the four systemic banks and Credia Bank will be part of the equation, while Optima Bank had also expressed corresponding interest.

Transfers

In PASOK they are now studying the polls, although yesterday Marc gave them a cold shower, and they estimate that Tsipras has hit his ceiling for good, while Nikos’s qualitative indicators are better than Alexis’s (as we said, hope dies last). And they are continuing with the transfers, starting today with independent Corfiot MP Alexandros Avlonitis, who will formally join the party’s parliamentary group. The move has not thrilled PASOK parliamentary group secretary Dimitris Biagkis, who is also elected in Corfu, but Nikos is concerned with maximum consolidation. Next in line is Admiral Apostolakis, who will go to the A’ Piraeus constituency, and then we’ll see.

Tzikas at PAOK

I’ll stay with PASOK, since during the summer there was strong talk that Tassos Tzikas, the longtime head of TIF-Helexpo, would be a candidate in the A’ Thessaloniki constituency. Nevertheless, Tzikas was announced yesterday by PAOK and will have an important role in the internal organizational structure of the football club, focusing on its transformation as well as the organization’s actual operations, in cooperation with the team’s CEO Agisilaos Toumazatos. In general, the people at PAOK want to bring experienced market executives into the team, and it would not make sense for someone to join a team only to enter politics a few months later, so Tzikas will probably stay… at Toumba.

Major acquisition in the technology sector completed – Announcements forthcoming

And now we move on to the market news, which is particularly interesting. PPC’s long-awaited data-center deal was announced yesterday, but another deal in the technology sector is also coming, one the market is not expecting. As regular readers know, the column prefers to report facts with names attached. However, in this particular case we will leave the names aside, because Dark Room’s inviolable principle is to respect and protect its sources. And having given the necessary explanations, let me say that there is a major and significant deal in the technology sector. It does not involve listed companies and concerns the acquisition of a Greek company by a major foreign player. The consideration is substantial, the agreement has been concluded, and the announcements are a matter of just a few days.

Turnover of €2.5 billion to €7.5 billion expected today on the Athens Stock Exchange

For the rest, it is worth mentioning that all the major brokerage firms are on alert for today’s session because of the upgrade of the Athens Stock Exchange. Estimates are that today’s turnover on the Athens Stock Exchange could range from €2.5 billion to as much as €7.5 billion. The major brokerage firms have secured bank guarantees to cope with the increased volume, and everyone is preparing for the unprecedented—by the standards of the Athens Stock Exchange—trading volume, which will test the resilience of people and systems.

Evropi Holdings: Sold the properties in Paiania at a €9.07 million loss

The profitability of Evropi Holdings in the first half of 2026 was decisively burdened by non-recurring accounting entries, mainly related to the forthcoming merger with CrediaBank. Specifically, the company recognized an expense of €6.87 million from its free share-distribution program for executives, as well as a total loss of €9.07 million from the sale of the Paiania property complex for €45.55 million, below its book value. The latter amount includes a €7.77 million loss from the revaluation of the fair value of investment properties and, consequently, the two figures should not be added together. On the other hand, the Group recorded a net gain of €698,000 from sales of investments and securities, as well as investment income of €137,000, while the sale of a property in Marousi to Intracom Holdings for €2.58 million was carried out at book value and did not generate a result. After the above charges, the Group reported published net losses of €13.52 million, compared with adjusted net profits of €0.95 million, while at the pre-tax level adjusted profits amounted to €6.34 million, compared with published losses of €10.27 million, highlighting that the underlying activity remained profitable.

Why Vernicos sold

Following Kiriacoulis, which passed into the control of Panagiotis and Rigas Tzortzis, another historic name in Greek yachting is entering a new era, as Nomad Yachting and Vernicos Yachts signed an initial agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the shares of the latter. The move comes just two months after the strategic partnership between the two companies and essentially marks the changing of the guard at Vernicos Yachts, following more than half a century of presence in the market. Well-informed sources report that Giorgos Vernicos’s decision to proceed with the sale of the company he founded in 1975 is related to the absence of a successor. As for Nomad Yachting, it has been active in marine tourism and yachting since 2017, providing comprehensive services and managing a fleet of vessels. Its principal shareholders are Eirini, Petros and Evgenia Vasilopoulou through Vamare Investments Group, which has also had a presence in shipping for the past 13 years, among other sectors. Upon completion of the agreement, the new entity plans to strengthen its chartering activity, expand its customer base and enrich its exclusive dealerships in the Greek market, while developing new services with an emphasis on premium yachting.

From Specifar and pharmaceuticals to Vamare and the waves

The deal now being set in motion will add another asset to the portfolio of Vamare Investments Group. This is the investment vehicle of the Vasilopoulou family, which was created following the successful exit from Specifar in 2011. At that time, the pharmaceutical company was acquired by the American Watson Pharmaceuticals for €400 million, with an option for additional consideration of up to €40 million. Since then, Vamare has made investments in shipping (Paradise Gas Carriers), pharmaceuticals (PharmaPath, Innovis, Pharmacenter), real estate (Vamare Residences), technology and food service, among other sectors. In real estate, it is behind “Project H” in Kefalari, involving the development of a luxury residential complex on a 2,500-square-meter plot, in cooperation with the architectural firm Fermanoglou Architects, while the family has also invested as a strategic investor in Errikos Arones’s Hellenic Properties. Now it is yachting’s turn, with the acquisition of Vernicos Yachts, with Konstantinos Theodoropoulos, also a shareholder in Nomad Yachting, taking the helm of the new entity.

PPC–Amazon

After the close of the stock-market session, PPC announced yesterday that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amazon Web Services for the data center in Agios Dimitrios, Kozani, right in the yard of the lignite power plant that was shut down. The name that the market had been trying to guess for months, among Microsoft, Google and Meta, has now appeared in regulated information. PPC has become the owner of a property with a power connection. It provides the land, the buildings and the energy infrastructure. AWS will install and operate the IT equipment and lease the entire facility for 15 years from completion of construction. It will also purchase electricity from PPC through long-term PPAs from renewable sources, aligned with Amazon’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. In other words, the same customer pays twice: rent and kilowatt-hours. Initial capacity is 300 MW, with an intention to explore expansion to 1 GW. The MoU also contains some “fine print.” It was characterized as “binding,” but the project and all commercial terms remain subject to final agreements, due diligence, securing the grid connection and obtaining permits. The announcement mentioned neither the size of the investment, nor the rent, nor an installation timetable. In August, Giorgos Stassis was talking about the first phase becoming operational by the end of 2028. At the beginning of the month, Goldman Sachs had set a €27 price target for PPC, with zero contribution from data centers in its base-case scenario. It estimated approximately €4 per share of additional value if the project reaches 1 GW. From tomorrow, the models are being rewritten.

AIA “locks in” €11 and looks toward new highs

The share of Athens International Airport is at the center of buying interest, recording its third consecutive gain. In this way, AIA is consolidating above the psychological €11 threshold. Yesterday it closed at €11.27, now “looking toward” the record levels of €11.72 reached last February, as well as the intraday high of €12 reached last January. Trading activity exceeded €5.1 million, with volume approaching 450,000 shares. Market capitalization stands above €3.5 billion, confirming the market’s confidence in the airport’s prospects.

Motor Oil a breath away from €70

Motor Oil remained on an upward trajectory, closing at a new all-time high of €69.95, which was also the day’s high, coming within a breath of the €70 milestone. The group’s market capitalization now stands at €7.75 billion, confirming its leading position on the Athens Stock Exchange. The rise was supported by high trading activity, with turnover reaching €31.46 million and volume exceeding 450,000 shares, as MOH was already moving to the rhythm of today’s rebalancing. At the same time, this was the third consecutive positive session, with the cumulative gains over the three-day period exceeding 6.5%. The positive sentiment spread across the refining sector as a whole, with HELLENiQ ENERGY also extending its 27-year high and closing at €18.24, moving closer to the all-time record of €18.87, which has stood since September 1999.

The black sheep leads the flock

Commerzbank brought together several central bankers and bond-market fund managers in Frankfurt yesterday. The keynote speaker at the event’s official dinner and moderator of one of the panels was ODDH’s head, Dimitris Tsakonas. He represented the only BBB-rated country in the program; everyone else was in the A category or above. At meetings of this kind, German bankers do not usually invite someone to the podium out of courtesy, but on the basis of the numbers. On September 11, the Public Debt Management Agency announced that the bond auction scheduled for the 16th would not take place. It had done the same for the one scheduled for June 17. According to information, the market expects another absence in October. The Hellenic Republic raised €4 billion in January at a 3.47% yield and €3 billion in June at around 3.75%, having thus covered 95% of this year’s program. There is no reason for it to pay today’s 4.3% yields. The Greek 10-year bond closed Monday at 4.29%, up from 4.02%–4.07% at the beginning of the month, with the spread at 76 basis points. Oil above $100, the ECB’s key interest rate at 2.5%, and the U.S. 10-year above 5% are putting pressure on all issuers. Italy is paying close to 4.45%. Greece borrows more cheaply than both Rome and Paris, while its average debt-servicing cost, including deferred EFSF interest, was 1.94% at the end of June. Less than half of today’s market rate. Instead of issuing bonds, Athens is repaying them. Early repayments in 2026 are reaching approximately €13 billion, with the aim, according to a competent source, of having debt end the year “below 137%” of GDP. Italy projects 138.6% for itself. At the end of the first quarter, Greece was still first in the EU, at 143.5%. In December, the title changes hands. Moody’s, DBRS and Scope are assessing the Greek economy this month, with Scope, at BBB with a positive outlook, being closer to an upgrade. Fifteen years ago, Greece went to Frankfurt to ask for help. This year it goes there to speak. In the markets, you are invited to the podium when you do not need their money.

Ferry ships being laid up early due to the energy crisis

We wrote in recent days about the explosive rise in marine fuel prices. Today we already have the market’s first response. Three ships operating on the Rafina routes have been laid up earlier than planned. But the truly difficult discussion is not whether others will follow. It is who will pay the bill to keep the islands connected through the winter. With MGO at €1,300 per tonne and almost double its February level, the problem is no longer an accounting one. The first early withdrawals of conventional vessels have provided an initial indication of the pressures. After the summer, passenger and private-car traffic declines, but neither permanent residents nor trucks carrying food, medicines, fuel and goods disappear. And this is where things get difficult. The market is already opening a discussion about more flexible scheduling, fewer services during the “dead” periods and greater use of Ro/Ro vessels for freight. All logical on paper. Except that ferry shipping is not an airline. You cannot easily cut capacity, nor can you replace a large conventional vessel with a smaller one from one day to the next. And so, behind the three ships that were laid up early, a much bigger issue emerges. The current model essentially asks companies to maintain routes even in months when their finances may not add up. If fuel prices remain that high, the winter dilemma will be politically difficult. Fewer sailings, more expensive government support, or a change in the rules of the game. Because the islands cannot go into… annual hibernation.

Papas and Kapralos leave handwritten wishes in the Euronext Athens book

We slipped into the office where, after the bell was rung to officially launch the parallel trading of Star Bulk’s shares in Athens, Petros Pappas and Spyros Kapralos left their own handwritten dedications in the official Euronext Athens book. Both, in different styles, sent a message with a clear shipping reference. Petros Pappas wrote: “This day is important for the history of Star Bulk, but we hope also for Greek shipping. Consistency, integrity and respect for our shareholders’ money will continue to keep us at the top.” Spyros Kapralos, for his part, linked Star Bulk’s entry to a broader return of shipping to the Greek capital market. “We move forward with strength, courage and an awareness of the responsibility we are assuming, always guided by the interests of our shareholders, and we look forward to a shipping ecosystem of listed companies that is missing from Euronext Athens.” Keep that last sentence in particular. Because behind the celebratory atmosphere and the bell, Athens’ real challenge is bigger than one more listed shipping company: to create once again a critical mass of shipping companies on the Greek stock exchange. And, as it appears, this is no longer being said only in presentation rooms. It is also being written in the book.

Greek banking seeks a larger share of shipping finance

Once upon a time, Greek shipowners mainly had to knock on doors in London, Germany or the Far East to finance their vessels. Now, however, something is changing—and quickly. Keep one number from the latest Allied QuantumSea report: +35.1%. That is how much National Bank, Eurobank, Piraeus and Alpha Bank increased their total financing to Greek shipping in one year, reaching $23.35 billion. During the same period, the other international banks financing Greek shipowners remained essentially unchanged, with a -0.2% change. And this is where the behind-the-scenes story lies. Greek banking is once again looking at shipping not merely as a traditional customer, but as a field in which it is worth claiming a larger piece of the pie. The share of Greek and Cypriot banks has already risen from 34.7% to 41.5% in just one year. The interesting question now is when and whether this 41.5% will pass 50%. Because then we will not simply be talking about a return. We will be talking about a genuine shift in the balance of Greek shipping finance.

Paloma Maritime Capital begins its investments

The new shipping fund set up by Pietro Corpi and Michalis Kourtesis has begun making investments. The first is the LPG carrier “Gas Aria,” with a capacity of 22,500 cubic meters, built in 2008, which was delivered on August 3 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Until recently, the vessel sailed as “Laperouse” on behalf of Geogas Trading. It is now beginning its new life with a secured long-term charter, meaning predictable cash flows from day one, a feature that immediately attracts the attention of institutional investors. The acquisition was made through an intermediate ownership structure until the procedures for incorporating it into the Paloma Maritime Capital portfolio are completed. But it was not the only investment. Information indicates that a second LPG carrier has already been secured and a third is in advanced planning. The investment vehicle, quietly established in 2025, with SeaHawk’s principal shareholders as anchor investors, has already raised a significant portion of the $120 million it is seeking from private equity, with a final target investment capacity of $300 million. Pietro Corpi, with 25 years of experience in capital markets and private banking (Euroxx, Eurobank Equities, and a decade at Eurobank Private Bank Luxembourg), brings the investors and governance. The Kourtesis family, through SeaHawk, has assumed the role of technical and operational manager of the fleet.

Beijing is hoarding the world’s gold

The truth is that Goldman Sachs does not have direct access to the vaults of the People’s Bank of China. It does, however, have a model (nowcast) that monitors flows in London’s over-the-counter market. In its latest report, it says that China bought 35 tonnes of gold in July, while the PBoC officially reported that it had bought only 20 tonnes. According to Goldman Sachs, this was not the only time that the official figures differed from what was actually happening in the market. In June, Goldman measured 40 tonnes versus 15 officially reported, and in May, 48 versus 10. In total, over the three-month period, GS estimates that China bought 123 tonnes, but reported only 45. On September 7, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, announced an addition of 20.2 tonnes in August, the largest increase since October 2023. This is the 22nd consecutive month of purchases, with reserves standing at 2,387 tonnes and accounting for 9% of foreign-exchange reserves, up from 8% in July. China has $350 billion worth of gold in its vaults and has risen to sixth place among the world’s official gold holders. On the other hand, Beijing reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds by $15.4 billion in July, to $618 billion. They were already at their lowest level since 2008 in June. The all-time high, at $1.317 trillion, dates back to November 2013.

Bitcoin feared the Senate, not the Fed

Theoretically, an increase in the cost of money by a central bank immediately and negatively affects riskier assets. The Fed’s decision to raise dollar interest rates, however, had no impact whatsoever on the cryptocurrency market. Quite the opposite. On Wednesday, during the first half-hour after Kevin Warsh’s interview, bitcoin traded between $75,000 and $76,900 and stabilized around $76,400, exactly where it had been beforehand. On Thursday, it opened at $76,144, 0.7% higher, with ethereum at $2,416. The truth is that the painful blow came from another building in Washington. On Tuesday, the Senate failed to muster the 60 votes needed to advance the Clarity Act, the bill that would determine who oversees what in the digital-assets market, under a shared SEC and CFTC framework. At least 10 votes were missing, and this means that the legislation has been kicked down the road to 2027. On Polymarket, the probability of it being passed this year fell to 5%. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $450.4 million, their largest daily outflow since June, with Fidelity’s FBTC accounting for $214.8 million and BlackRock’s IBIT for $161.7 million. Ethereum ETFs lost another $142 million. Leveraged positions worth more than $570 million were forcibly liquidated. XRP fell 8.3%, while Coinbase and Circle lost more than 10% on the market. Bitcoin fell as low as $75,038. Bitcoin is 8% below its September 4 high, with $80,000 acting as a ceiling since the end of August. The record above $120,000 dates back to October 2025. The total value of the cryptocurrency market is approximately $2.65 trillion, where it was also in May.