-Hello there, so yesterday the show in Parliament was stolen by our beloved (and I believe we’re his too) leader Nikos A. I don’t know what got into him, probably out there in the pastures he’s wandering around in Crete he must be… getting an earful from his local mates and thought he should soften things up a bit in Parliament yesterday during the OPEKEPE debate. “Back in the day, farmers were the ones taking the money, wrong of course, but at least they were the ones taking it, whereas now what’s happening is political money,” Androulakis said, more or less, anyway that was the gist of it. The… worldview of the leader as you understand it, is that it’s one thing for the shepherd to steal and another for the party fixer or the politician. It reminded me of an old fine story from PASOK days, which to be honest may as well be one of those… myths and legends from the “PASOK-good old days” era. So, back in 1986 after PASOK took a beating in the municipal elections (lost Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki to Evert, Andrianopoulos, Kouvelas) Andreas was looking for various corrective moves. Among other things, legend has it that someone told him that the head of the Public Power Corporation Mavrakis had pocketed 500 million drachmas as a commission on a deal, and Andreas fired him saying “we said a party official can take a little gift for himself, but not 500 million drachmas!” Now as you understand, yesterday even the mottled (green and otherwise) goat was laughing with our leader in Parliament, because when Mitsotakis went at him for what he said, he tried to backtrack but only made it worse. Other than that, we didn’t get any wiser from yesterday, but at least we had a good laugh.

OPEKEPE Vol. 2 and walking out
-It should be considered a done deal that ND will get up and walk out of today’s vote on the pre-investigative committees – besides, yesterday’s vote on the inquiry already spoiled things for several who wanted to skip out. Politically, the decision is made and it’s interesting that in a meeting held Monday afternoon at ND’s parliamentary offices there wasn’t even any discussion about the party’s stance on today’s vote – so the matter was settled. Obviously, the speeches by Voridis and Avgenakis are awaited with interest, while the heavy lifting from ND will be done mainly by Mitarakis as parliamentary spokesman, and Floridis will be present on the government benches.

The lunch with the Commissioner
-Today in Athens will be the European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero Emissions and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra, who had come a few months ago as well. He will meet with government officials, and at noon he has a scheduled lunch with K.M. and two ministers, Pierrakakis and Papastavrou, whose portfolios are relevant.

Kyranakis calls out Hellenic Train
-Konstantinos Kyranakis is demanding answers from Hellenic Train, following the incident on InterCity 54, which ran without air conditioning in the middle of the heatwave last Friday from Athens to Thessaloniki. I hear his letter to the company’s management was anything but formal. He raises the issue of service quality, reminds them of contractual obligations and asks for explanations about last Friday’s unprecedented events. He focuses especially on the safety, health and dignity of passengers. The incident, if nothing else, carries symbolic weight at a time when efforts are being made to upgrade and modernize the country’s rail network. With his letter Kyranakis clearly wanted to remind Hellenic Train that accountability is not optional, but a contractual obligation.

Decision time for the cable?
-The fourth and I suspect last teleconference before the August holidays, about the Cyprus cable (in less than two months), is being convened tomorrow Thursday by the European Commission with the participation of ADMIE, RAAEY and RAEK. The EU’s goal is to persuade the Cypriot side to approve the recovery of 25 million euros, as provided for in the Greece–Cyprus interstate agreement for the GSI project, so that the Operator, which has invested 300 million euros in the project, can “lift its head” and is pushing for the granting of allowable revenue. In the last teleconference last week, RAEK once again kicked the can down the road, asking for ADMIE’s expenses to be evaluated by an external consultant. The Cypriot side appears cautious and is seeking additional guarantees before proceeding with final approval. What Nicosia will do tomorrow remains unknown. Athens, however, keeps repeating almost monotonously that the project will be carried out and completed “at the right time,” as the Prime Minister recently stated, underlining the intergovernmental nature of the interconnection and its European significance. In the same context, the Greek side notes that “the interconnection does not require the approval of third countries to proceed” and that “Turkey cannot seek a European approach while at the same time questioning projects implemented within the framework of the Energy Union.”

Discussions about a National Water Authority
-Last week, an interesting meeting was held at the National Bank’s headquarters on Aiolou Street. A group of senior Deloitte executives presented National Bank CEO Pavlos Mylonas with an ambitious plan: for the National Bank to take on a central role in financing major infrastructure projects aimed at tackling water scarcity. The plan presented by Deloitte’s executives even foresaw the creation of a separate entity, the “National Water Authority,” which with the synergy of the European Investment Bank (EIB) would support investment projects in water supply and irrigation, leveraging their technical and financial expertise. The goal of the plan is to mobilize private and European capital, using the Deloitte–National Bank–EIB collaboration as a lever. The involvement of the National Bank will ensure the necessary banking mechanism for assessing and monitoring the viability of the projects, the credit leverage needed for such large programs, and the facilitation of access to cheap and long-term financing thanks to the EIB’s reputation and credit rating. Deloitte, for its part, will take on the role of advisor, assessing the economic, technical and financial parameters and shaping an overall viability plan.

Lampsa’s plans for a multi-storey garage on Kriezotou Street
-The repeat tender of EFKA for the property on Kriezotou Street came up empty, according to information. We had recently mentioned the case of the open-air parking lot – calling it that is generous – on this EFKA plot, which the Organization is trying to develop with serious investment plans. We had mentioned the… “playground mentality” that was trying to torpedo the entire process, despite the legal “slaps” it’s been getting from the Council of State and the Athens Single-Member Court of First Instance, with more to come (because when you start some “streetwise” tactics, things get tricky…). For 12 years, the “playground” operated with chicken wire, tin sheets, cars crammed together like a game of Tetris to fit as many as possible, and luxury prices. EFKA’s project aims not just to eliminate this third-world image, but also raises the bar very high, both in terms of the required investment and the expected revenues. It is asking for a minimum investment of 4 million euros and minimum annual rents of 780,000 euros – 65,000 euros per month – plus VAT. Now, the final say lies with “Lampsa,” which has the right of first refusal in the tender, as was provided, due to its significant investment in the adjacent EFKA neoclassical building on Zalokosta Street, which now houses the Athens Capital Suites. We hear that “Lampsa’s” plan for the Kriezotou property is to create a state-of-the-art multi-storey parking facility with dozens of spaces, with proper jobs, safety and order.

Ioannou’s deal
-Since July 23, this column had “hinted” at the details of the deal at the Ioannou family’s Donkey Hotels, revealing the 24 million euro share capital increase, following the decision of the extraordinary General Assembly of shareholders held two days earlier, on July 21. Furthermore, as we wrote, Article 9 of the company’s Articles of Association was also amended, adding the provision that “members of the Board of Directors may also be legal entities domiciled either in Greece or abroad” and “in that case, the legal entity is required to appoint a natural person to exercise the powers of the legal entity as a member of the Board of Directors.” Yesterday, the strategic partnership of the Ioannou family with Azora, one of the most important investors in Europe in the hospitality and leisure sector, was officially announced, aiming to develop an institutional high-quality hospitality platform, centered on Greece. Under the agreement, Azora acquired 50.1% of Donkey Hotels S.A., while members of the Ioannou family retain the remaining 49.9%, with Christos Ioannou remaining Chairman of the Board. It is recalled that Donkey Hotels owns and operates five luxury hotel units in Greece, with a total capacity of 834 rooms, including the iconic Athenaeum Intercontinental Hotel, while Azora has invested more than 3.5 billion euros since 2011, building a portfolio of over 60 hotels in Europe and the USA. Coming up next are new investments for upgrading the Athenaeum Intercontinental, as well as targeted acquisitions of other hotels.