Shades of sincerity (!) by a Greek minister on Thursday as Alternate FM Euclid Tsakalotos said his leftist government… may have initially procrastinated and failed to present comprehensive proposals to institutional creditors.

Such charges “may have a basis of truth”, he told audience members at an Athens conference organized by the Greek financial daily “Naftermporiki”. The latter statement could be viewed as an indirect “criticism” at Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis, who’s reached “celebrity economist” status on a personal level but who has achieved zilch in terms of dealings with Eurozone peers, the IMF and the ECB leadership.

Tsakalotos, who portfolio deals with international economic relations, has apparently assumed a portion of the negotiating role held exclusively by Varoufakis until recently.

“It’s logical for a party that assumed office for the first time to suffer from a lack of know how,” he said, adding that most of the problems were “political” in nature.

Nevertheless the former academic appeared confident a deal to extend bailout financing for Greece will eventually be found.

“We have complied with the letter and spirit of the agreement, we agree on the targets, but we disagree on the means; but I can tell you that we are now closer to an honorable compromise than we were 20 or 30 days ago.”