Hello, today I’m starting with a tragicomedy that dominated the media yesterday. It involves a man who owns a restaurant in downtown Athens, Chef Alexandros Tsiotinis, who got tangled up with “the services.” This poor Greek citizen, as I understand it, has had his business shut down (or… almost shut down) for the past three months because of some guys digging in front of his place—first for natural gas by a private company called ENAON, then earlier by the HEDNO (power company), and then water works by EYDAP. Try to make sense of that! The chef got frustrated, posted a TikTok ranting at the mayor Haris, and by the time Haris realized what had hit him, he was the laughingstock of all of Athens, even though the mess wasn’t the city’s fault. Now, let’s place bets—after all this media exposure—how long it will take for Chef Tsiotinis’ place to reopen. Greece, thy glory.

Here Comes Costa

Moving on to government news after Mitsotakis’ trip to Brussels, it’s Brussels’ turn to come to Athens. I hear that next week, the new President of the European Council, António Costa, will be visiting the Maximos Mansion. Costa, a social democrat, will soon take office. He’ll be bringing with him, in the coming weeks, Mitsotakis’ diplomatic advisor Anna Maria Boura, who will serve as his own advisor. Meanwhile, Milton Nikolaidis, Greece’s current NATO envoy, will move to Maximos Mansion.

SYRIZA-Insiders

The truth is, from Stefanos’ interview the day before yesterday on Star, the only thing that stuck with us was the comment from our former leader about “50 members of the Central Committee (who voted against me, he wanted to add) are paid by the party.” I thought, “Look at that!” I didn’t know about this, that people were paid by the party… So, I asked my source in SYRIZA, and they said, “First of all, it’s not 50 people who are paid by SYRIZA, Avgi (the party’s newspaper), or the Poulantzas Institute who are also members of the Central Committee; it’s about 30. But that’s not the point. What’s important is that Kasselakis didn’t publicly admit that when he was running the show in SYRIZA, he was the first and foremost to use party staff. And out of those 30 from the Central Committee, some still belong to him. That’s why months ago we told him, ‘Give us the full payroll list of SYRIZA so we can see what’s going on, whether it’s grown or the composition has changed.’” As you can understand, they’re likely to end up with either the financial prosecutor or Pitilís (we wish him well in his new term), or even in Korydallos prison.

Sweet as Candy…

By the way, I saw in an official gazette the following: “The expenses for the settlement of the Hellenic Tourism Organization’s (EOT) obligations regarding the procurement and provision of advertising and public relations services, provided and carried out between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010, which have not been settled due to formal irregularities during the procurement process or the conclusion of related contracts, are deemed legal and regular. These expenses will be cleared and paid in deviation from any other provisions, including those regarding statute limitations, and will be covered by the 2024 EOT budget (Government Gazette A’ 128/02.08.2024, p. 8193) provided that: a) the related contracts were approved by decisions of the EOT Board and the competent Minister before their execution, b) the services and supplies were provided to the Organization during the said period, and c) the relevant invoices and financial documents were issued, and funds were committed for the expenditure at the time of issuance of the payment orders for the invoices.” Honestly, I’ve never seen a ministry settle debts from 15 years ago with such a precise, candy-sweet decision…

730 Million in Lamda’s Coffers

Just the view when crossing Vouliagmenis or Poseidonos streets shows that the Elliniko project is moving forward. Lamda now has €650 million in cash, which will be boosted by another €80 million by the end of December from recent land sales. The €730 million has allowed Lamda to avoid using its bank credit lines, except for financing the malls. The company’s sales, 48% of which are now from international buyers and 52% from Greeks, have boosted its coffers. There’s also a shift in the international buyers—initially, Israelis and Lebanese were predominant, but now most buyers are from Europe and the U.S. Last week, Lamda organized a presentation event in Monaco, and now a company team is doing the same in Miami, with Chicago and New York to follow.

Miranda Sfakianakis: The Conflict with St. Taki Isn’t Over

I was hasty in writing yesterday that St. Taki secured 51% of Sfakianakis SA, signaling the end of the legal dispute with his ex-wife. The battle between the former spouses over Sfakianakis SA continues unabated, as evidenced by a letter sent by S. Kalamitsis, legal counsel to Miranda Sfakianaki, following yesterday’s column that stated control of 51% marked the end of the dispute. The letter says: “Clearly, you refer to the conflict triggered by Stavros Taki himself with the illegal/nonexistent universal self-appointed General Meeting of 05.02.2019 of the parent company Sfakianakis Holdings SA, through which Stavros Taki wrongfully seized the majority of shares from me in both the parent company and, by extension, the Group, which is the creation of my father. That ‘meeting’ was neither universal nor self-appointed. The related litigation is still pending, and the Supreme Court will eventually rule on my appeal, seeking to overturn the appellate decision and uphold the correct first-instance ruling in my favor. Furthermore, Mr. Taki is under criminal prosecution for the fraudulent misrepresentation he used to post fake minutes from the non-existent general meeting of 05.02.2019. Mr. Taki has also been judicially ordered to account for the loan proceeds we took to support the Group, which he overburdened but used for personal gain to unlawfully seize control. Therefore, I kindly ask that you publish this to restore the truth and ensure there is no misconception that the conflict is over. Rest assured, the battle continues due to the illegal actions of Stavros Taki.”

Crowding and Alliances in Data Centers

Due to its geographic position, Greece can become a key European hub for data management, which is why we’ve been hearing a lot about data center investments recently. Since everyone is rushing to secure the space needed for storing and managing enormous volumes of data, it’s certain that some IT giants looking to establish 2 or 3 data centers in Attica will inevitably team up with some of the ‘smaller’ players who have already started. For instance, reports suggest that Microsoft will assign its third data center to the French company Data Four, which has already made significant progress. The major €300 million investment by Dromeus Capital, in partnership with Apto (a PIMCO subsidiary), aims to serve Google’s increasing needs. All these data centers will require 150 MW of electricity, meaning—above all—that the necessary renewable energy supply must be secured.

Why Were They Selling Cenergy Below the Offering Price?

Cenergy raised €200 million for its U.S. investment, the capital increase was successful, and yesterday the new shares began trading. The shares were offered to Greek and foreign investors at €9, yet yesterday Cenergy dropped as low as €8.83 during the session, raising questions about who was selling below the offering price. It’s high time we discussed what “oversubscription” of the order book means in a public offering. When there are three times more investors willing to buy shares at €9, how does the price drop below that? Clearly, we need to introduce some sort of “filter” for how the stock market is informed about the investors participating in the order books.

What’s Happening with the Gigabit Voucher?

The market and, of course, telecom providers have been anticipating it for some time, and it seems the moment is near. We’re talking about the Gigabit Voucher subsidy, which was announced and will benefit nearly 400,000 eligible households. Sources close to the process say it’s only a matter of time before the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision is signed and the platform for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections opens. The Gigabit Voucher will subsidize the cost of upgrading from a basic connection to broadband, with a total subsidy budget of €80 million. Beneficiaries will verify their details via Taxisnet and then issue the voucher, selecting their provider for connection. The providers are ready and waiting for the green light to begin offering packages to consumers.

The Casino of Crete and the Revenue from Gambling

The Gambling Commission does not wish to delay the process of conducting the tender for the casino operating license in Crete any further. The investment by REDS, expected to exceed 200 million euros, aims to create an Integrated Resort Casino in Gournes, Heraklion, and the Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) – as the responsible authority – will carry out the tender for granting the license. In order to avoid losing time, the HGC is considering bypassing the competitive process for hiring legal and financial advisors and instead using the option of direct selection, a method used in other cases as well. The preparation for the tender has already begun, but there are still several stages to go before it is officially announced and, of course, the contractor is selected. Nonetheless, there is interest, and certainly… players, as indicated by the latest data from the HGC, which show that for the period of January to August 2024, the total market turnover (excluding bonuses and player re-bets) reached 10 billion euros, a billion more than the same period last year. At the same time, gross gaming revenues (GGR), a more representative figure, reached 1.8 billion euros, up by 8.5% from last year.

Hellenic Gold’s Investments Reach 4.5 Billion Euros

Hellenic Gold has invested over 4.5 billion euros in recent years in Halkidiki. They spent 2.5 billion euros on acquiring the mines, invested 700 million of the total 1 billion euros in Skouries, and another 800 million euros in Olympiada. In Skouries, one of the most modern copper and gold (high purity) mines in Europe is being developed. Moreover, the participation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Hellenic Gold’s shareholding structure mandates strict, modern procedures for minimizing environmental impacts in the area. Skouries is developing one of the few new copper mining projects in Europe. A state-of-the-art, fully automated digital mine is being constructed, incorporating innovative and best technologies. Today, in Olympiada, the gold purity of the ores reaches 54%. With the new investments in Skouries, the purity of the gold ores will reach 90%. And, of course, there will be employment opportunities for 2,000 local residents.

Tough Times for Airlines

Yesterday marked the third consecutive session in which Aegean struggled to surpass the 1 billion euro mark, relying on its fundamentals and the prospects of our tourism market. During the same period across Europe, airlines are suffering from high operational costs and reduced demand. In Germany, for example, Eurowings announced it is cutting 1,000 flights to and from Hamburg, while Ryanair announced it is reducing its operations in the country by 60%, completely abandoning routes to Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig. The primary reason cited by the airlines is the increase in air traffic control fees imposed by the German government. Since last May, the tax per ticket at German airports has increased by around 20%. The surcharge per ticket ranges from 15.53 euros to 70.83 euros, depending on the flight route.

Americans Love the Stock Market

Surveys show that American households have allocated 48% of their savings to Wall Street stocks. This percentage is higher than at the peak of the Dot-Com bubble in 2000. The data shows that Americans are putting 16% of their savings into bonds and 15% into cash. Since the 2020 crash, the stock market has delivered returns of around 120%. Today, the indices of the U.S. stock markets are at record levels, and the question is what the – economic and social – consequences will be when the party eventually ends. Whether or not we are in a bubble is answered by the numbers: In 2020, at the height of the Dot-Com frenzy, Cisco was worth as much as 5.5% of U.S. GDP. Today, NVIDIA is worth 11.7% of U.S. GDP. The question is, is history repeating itself?

Ireland Does Social Policy via Apple

On September 10th, the European Court issued its final decision, confirming the 2016 ruling of the European Commission: Ireland granted the American tech giant Apple “illegal aid that Ireland is obliged to recover.” Ireland’s Ministry of Finance projected that tax revenues would reach 105.7 billion euros this year, an increase of 13.6 billion euros due to Apple’s “retroactive tax payments.” Notably, throughout the years the trial lasted, the stance of all Irish governments was in favor of Apple, as no one wanted to change the favorable low-tax regime (the lowest among the 27 EU states) that applies in Ireland. Three weeks after the court’s ruling, the Ministry of Finance presented an initial plan to utilize the “Godsend” of 13.6 billion euros. In simple terms, the Minister of Finance said that these additional revenues would not be used for benefits, wage increases, or tax cuts, but for investments in “housing, energy, water, and transportation infrastructure.” Ireland’s economy has long been stabilized and growing, unemployment is nearly non-existent, but the Irish are facing a desperate shortage of affordable housing, exacerbated by the largest influx of immigrants the country has ever seen.