-Hello there, I asked my source on polling matters to comment on a survey that shows, apart from the mainstream parties, very high acceptance rates for rumored-to-be-founded parties (Tsipras, Samaras, Karystianou—another 40%) and got the reply that “if you add all of these together the numbers easily surpass 100%, so it would be best not to take everything at face value.” On another note now, the Finance Ministry along with the Ministry of Digital Policy will launch in 15–20 days an application where anyone can input their financial data—salary, pension, income and expenses—and it will calculate precisely what tax they will pay (and what tax they will save) from January, so that everyone can understand the relief measures. Well, if you don’t get it, you can always Facetime Pierre—or better yet, Petralias, who’s the ‘technician of the craft’—to give you the details.

And the AI guru “succumbed” to basketball fever
-Not once, not twice, but three times K.M will meet with the AI guru Sir Demis Hassabis, who will be in town these days. At noon, at M.M, there will be a meeting with Vice President Chatzidakis and the relevant ministers, while in the evening K.M is among the speakers at the Athens Innovation Summit at the Herodion. The organizers were forced to move the event earlier because it clashed with the National Team’s game against Turkey. The original schedule had the start after 9 p.m., but the Greece–Turkey semifinal for EuroBasket 2025 forced them to bring it forward to 19:45, so that after the panel everyone could at least catch the second half. I gather the Prime Minister will also attend Saturday’s annual Endeavor gathering in Costa Navarino, where the British-Cypriot scientist is the guest of honor.

Trip to Riga?
-Needless to say, everyone is waiting to see the outcome of today’s game. Now, if we make it to the final, don’t rule out the scenario of Mitsotakis flying to Riga on Sunday for the game against the winner of Germany–Finland, though personally I don’t believe it. From the government side so far, only Vroutsis has traveled to Latvia.

The Papastavrou–Bergam lunch
-The schedule of American “energy czar” Dan Bergam in Athens didn’t just include meetings; at Revithoussa, Papastavrou had arranged a light lunch with a Greek touch. Here’s the menu: the table opened with fava with smoked eel, followed by sea bass ceviche, and the main was sautéed grouper with zucchini risotto. Dessert was portokalopita, paired of course with Greek wines—a rosé from Alpha Estate and a white Ovilos from Biblia Chora. No wonder the “czar” later made glowing remarks about Greek-American cooperation…

Table No. 2 at the embassy
-Enthusiastic, though exhausted from his packed program—including meetings with the Prime Minister, visits to Revithoussa and the shipyards, plus lunch with businesspeople—the American Secretary of the Interior and “energy czar” N. Bergam arrived at the ambassador’s residence, where the embassy had organized a reception in his honor. The reception, which opened with a minute’s silence for the victims of 9/11, saw the attendance of nearly half the cabinet—S. Papastavrou, A. Georgiadis, Th. Plevris, T. Theodorikakos, V. Kikilias, I. Kefalogianni, N. Kerameos, Ch. Theocharis, N. Tsafos—as well as the Chief of Defense General D. Choupis. Also notable was the business presence from energy and shipping: D. Kopelouzos, M. Latsi, G. Prokopiou, V. Marinakis, Th. Kyriakou, Giann. Alafouzos, G. Papalekas, Al. Exarchou, plus several company reps and a few journalists. The American minister spoke warmly of cooperation with Greece, making special mention of the country’s progress. His main line was clear: “Friends and allies should buy energy from the U.S. and not from our enemies.” He did not hide U.S. ambitions to flood the Balkans and Eastern Europe with American LNG, using Greece as the hub. Both he and the chargé d’affaires Josh Huck also conveyed greetings from Kimberly Guilfoyle, who would have been the official hostess had her appointment been confirmed in time.

Nolita instead of Athenian Club
-Since we’re on the subject of tables, let me tell you that the decades-old regular circle of the Athenian Club has now permanently relocated from Syntagma to Nolita in Neo Psychiko. That means Prokopis (the one and only) Sallas, Arvanitopoulos, and yesterday’s guest star Karamanlis (of Rafina), spotted by many since they didn’t go into the restaurant’s private room. Don’t look for a menu—they’ve been eating together for decades, so it’s just a gathering.

Ivan and M.M
-My source told me that calm and relations between Ivan (I believe he has left for Rostov) and M.M have somewhat been restored. The… evil spirit Telis (Mystakidis) has turned back to PAOK basketball, if that materializes; Savvidis is currently preparing only a paper plan for the stadium; apparently, the mediators met in Thessaloniki over the past three days; and life goes on.

Which Greek shipowners went to the American embassy
-Last week I wrote about the working lunch the U.S. Embassy hosted for Greek shipowners and shipping executives. Today I have names. It took me a few days, but I didn’t want to leave the report unfinished. The lunch was closed-door, which in itself is telling. Among the attendees: a top executive from Maran of the Maria Angelicoussis group; a representative of Angeliki Frangou’s Navios Partners, listed on the NYSE; Dr. Nikos Tsakos of Tsakos Energy Navigation, also listed on the NYSE; Aristeidis Ioannis Alafouzos with Okeanis Eco Tankers, likewise NYSE-listed; Stamatis Tsantanis, chairman and CEO of Nasdaq-listed Seanergy and United Maritime; Dimitris Theodorou Angelopoulos; Haris Plakantonaki, Chief Strategy Officer of Petros Pappas’s Star Bulk, listed on Nasdaq. Also present: the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, Giorgos Alexandratos; Ilias Karyampas of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS); Dorothea Ioannou, CEO of the American P&I Club; and Kostis Fragoulis, president of the Propeller Club Port of Piraeus. The working lunch was an embassy initiative, specifically by chargé d’affaires Josh Huck, who’s hyperactive these days, meeting government officials and entrepreneurs, focusing mainly on energy and shipping. A politician with experience: before this post, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State overseeing policy for Southern Europe and the Caucasus, and as Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs.

Intralot: Vote “yes” at the assembly and… you’ll get paid
-The stock market has been left stunned by Intralot’s decision to pay €40 (per €1,000 bond) to its bondholders, provided they vote in favor of the agenda items at the upcoming general assembly on Monday. Nothing like this has ever happened before in Greece, and the authorities, I hear, have mobilized their lawyers to decide how to handle it. Specifically, in the announcement for the €130 million bondholders’ meeting, Intralot clarifies that regarding the “attendance fee of €40 per bond,” the beneficiary is any individual or legal entity present or lawfully represented at the meeting, initial or repeat. The fee is payable only if all items of the original agenda are finally approved. If not all items are approved, no payment is made. The €40 amount will be paid once, after legal deductions. In other words: vote “yes” and you’ll get paid. Authorities are examining the initiative legally, since there is no precedent in Greece. General assemblies fall under the Development Ministry, but the Capital Market Commission is also looking into it. Greek law has no such provision, and the fee could be seen as compromising shareholders’ free will. However, Intralot argues that paying bondholders for a positive vote is a common practice abroad, and that’s why they chose to apply it in this case.

A beef breaks out between Panteliadis (My Market) and Sepetas (Vikos)
-A sudden beef broke out between the Panteliadis family (Epirus AEBE, My Market) and the Sepetas family (Vikos) over who owns the name “Vikos.” Epirus, a dairy company of the Panteliadis group, started advertising a white cheese under the brand name Vikos, now on supermarket shelves. The Sepetas family reacted with a statement saying the use of the Vikos name causes consumer confusion and reserved all legal rights. Last night, Epirus issued its own statement—not addressing Vikos directly but rather the media reports (as you know, it’s always the journalists’ fault)—arguing there is no confusion between Vikos cheese and products from other categories, and that they’ve had the Vikos trademark registered since 2001.