Hello. Today I will begin with Britain, so that we do not forget where things stand, on the occasion of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation. He is the seventh prime minister to leave office in the past 10 years because of the political instability created by Brexit. Britain, once an economic powerhouse, with London in 2016 competing with New York as a global financial centre, is now in decline. The country has entered a national ordeal with no clear exit in sight. The next prime minister will also be unable to solve the problem created by the combination of European isolation and a series of disastrous decisions taken by British governments in recent years in the context of Brexit. Fortunately, here in Greece, our great helmsman Alexis understood the situation almost immediately in 2015 and reversed course at full speed. As for the comments made the day before yesterday by Ms Antonopoulou, from Tsipras’s party, that they would tax those with fast boats, explanations were requested through the proper channels and yacht owners in Greece calmed down. Luxury yachts, as is well known, do not go faster than 14 to 16 knots, so they are not considered fast.

Avramopoulos

Now to government matters. Yesterday, the old Qatar Gate issue reappeared with a new dimension, after Belgian prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Dimitris Avramopoulos, the former European commissioner and former New Democracy minister. Avramo had received a fee of €70,000 from an NGO involved in the Panzeri-Kaili affair for lobbying in favour of Qatar. Both then and now, he says that he had legally declared the fee to the tax authorities. Why the Belgians are dragging him into this, I do not know. What I do know is that Maximos Mansion, the Greek prime minister’s office, does not intend to overreact to the case and will wait to see how it develops. They do not appear thunderstruck. Not that they are especially burning with concern over Avramo either, since recently he has been appearing on the opposite side from them.

Athanasios Laskaridis donation

There is money in Greek shipping, as became clear at yesterday’s inauguration of the new building housing the Information Technology and Cyberspace Directorate of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff. As the building’s donor, Athanasios Laskaridis, said, “there is a great deal of idle wealth in our country, especially in the shipping sector,” which he estimated at €50bn among Greek families. Now, if they donated half of that, as the prime minister said, picking up Mr Laskaridis’s gauntlet and showing his strength in mathematics, he was after all called the Messi of modern politics by the donor, Greek society would receive support of €1bn a year. In any case, I asked around and learned that donations to the Ministry of National Defence have so far exceeded €100m.

Mitsotakis in Parliament

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has not been to Parliament for some time and is expected to do so on Wednesday, after first having a morning coffee with President Constantine Tassoulas at the Presidential Mansion for a broad discussion. The Greek prime minister will speak during the debate on the omnibus bill being brought forward by Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou, known as Pierr, which includes a series of positive measures concerning citizens, their incomes and the market. This is also New Democracy’s pre-election line: to counter the opposition’s campaign promises by highlighting measures that boost income in practice.

In honour

Deputy Finance Minister Thanos Petralias will be given a lunch today, Tuesday, at the Pentagon, hosted by Defence Minister Nikos Dendias, in honour of the efforts he made 10 days ago to find fiscal space for defence procurement. Those efforts paid off, even though they took many hours.

Takis’s premiere

MPs and ministers are in full pre-election mode, with dinners and drinks already under way. Yesterday, for example, Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos gathered his friends at Penarrubia on the Athens Riviera for a drink and summer wishes. Today, he will be with Defence Minister Nikos Dendias at Metlen’s new investment in Volos. Keep that duo in mind, as I have mentioned before. In the coming days, he will also hold a first meeting with his neighbour in the southern suburbs, Deputy Transport Minister Kostas Kyranakis, to discuss all matters, including his participation in the ministerial teams heading to Thessaly next week.

Gelestathi and Samaras

A short while ago, Ioanna Gelestathi left New Democracy, issuing a pompous statement without ever really explaining why she had left. At the time, Maximos Mansion avoided going into further detail, mostly out of decorum. Gelestathi, who left New Democracy and said she had not yet decided on her next political move, held an event yesterday in Agios Dimitrios, in her electoral district in the southern suburbs, on security at universities. Many police officers were present, as they are a key part of her audience, while at one point former prime minister Antonis Samaras also appeared and was handed a microphone. Clearly, that was the central message of the event, which under other circumstances would not have attracted discussion.

Skandamis also leaves

A small village with few houses is a bad village, as the saying goes, and this is beginning to apply to PASOK, as officials leave after apparently seeing that the big shop in the political space is becoming Tsipras’s. This also happened in the case of lawyer and Achaia parliamentary candidate Marinos Skandamis, who left the party’s ballot, where he obviously cannot be elected as long as George Papandreou is still standing, since as a former prime minister he takes the seat by right. Many now say Skandamis will move towards Tsipras, who has traditionally had strength in Patras. You can understand how good the mood generally is at Harilaou Trikoupi, PASOK’s headquarters.

Tsipras’s shadow “government”

Alexis Tsipras is announcing a shadow government today, in other words the sector chiefs who will do battle on television panels against senior ministers. The mix will include younger figures, a few select former ministers from his years in government and, above all, professors. The focus, of course, is on the economy, which is not the asset of ELAS, as became clear from the first panels, to such an extent that a communications team facelift is also coming.

Lamda: does the delay bring news?

Listed companies are not obliged to publish their results on the same dates, but large differences compared with the recent past usually hide news. Last year, Lamda Development announced its first-quarter financial figures on 28 May, while this year it will be among the last listed companies on the Athens Stock Exchange to report, with publication scheduled for 7 July, when the third quarter will already have begun on the calendar. Given that publication will be followed by a conference call with analysts on 8 July, we should probably prepare for announcements beyond the results. Nothing is certain, but the postponement may also be connected with Lamda’s major agreement with the ION Group, which had recently been in the due diligence and contractual-documentation stage. ION, owned by well-known fintech investor Andrea Pignataro, has agreed to acquire land at The Ellinikon for the development of an International Research and Innovation Centre, an investment of more than €1.5bn from which Lamda is expected to receive €450m.

Coming soon: Astir Beach Cinema

Since summer has now well and truly arrived, we will continue in a similar vein, as business is also opening up at Astir Beach, the cosmopolitan beach of Astir Vouliagmeni. We are not, of course, talking about an ordinary beach, as can be seen from the corporate purpose of the relevant company, Astir Beach S.A., which includes everything from the operation and management of tourist and hotel businesses and catering businesses, as well as the sale, purchase and leasing of property, to the trade of raw meat and meat products in specialised shops, the trade of alcoholic drinks and spices, customer-transport services in the context of managing and operating catering and tourism businesses, parking services, the rental of beach umbrellas and seats, the provision of meals and drinks, sports services, gyms and courts, the import and trade of cosmetics, and electric vehicle charging. The shareholders’ general meeting last month decided to add further activities, specifically the trade of smoking products, film screening services and the screening and organisation of artistic events.

The opening of Four Seasons Resort Mykonos moves further back

The much-anticipated opening of the brand-new Four Seasons on Mykonos is being pushed further back. It is one of the investments worth tens of millions of euros on the island and has been in preparation since the previous decade. The new project is linked in investment terms to AGC, the former owners of Astir Vouliagmeni, before the historic complex passed into the ownership of shipowner Prokopiou at the start of 2025, where, as is known, the Four Seasons brand made its debut in Greece. The Mykonos hotel had been expected to soft-open last year, but its opening was postponed until this June so that it could be better prepared. Now, although bookings had already opened from 26 June, the launch is being pushed further back again in order to deal with last-minute problems, while the hotel continues to look for staff. Information indicates that the opening is being postponed, most likely until early August or later. Four Seasons Resort Mykonos, in Kalo Livadi, about 20 minutes from the airport and Mykonos Town, has 94 rooms and suites and extends across 60 stremmata. The hotel’s jetty will also be used as a departure point for private boat trips. According to the relevant information, the hotel uses desalinated seawater, solar energy and waste-management systems. The project was included in the strategic investment regime in 2019, with an initial investment amount then set at €60m, a figure that was later exceeded. It should be recalled here that a Four Seasons, the third for the brand in Greece after the Astir and Mykonos properties, is also due to open in the Peloponnese, in Porto Heli, on the Hinitsa bay, as part of the chain’s agreement with Irish investor Paul Coulson.

When will Fessas reveal his hand?

The stake held by the Quest Group of businessman Theodoros Fessas in the Fourlis Group has increased to around 12.5%, about two percentage points higher over the past two months. Fessas has avoided revealing his hand for now, limiting himself to saying that he likes the way Fourlis is developing into a retail-management platform through which synergies can be created. The market, however, believes that the businessman will truly reveal his intentions after the picture becomes clear regarding Uni Systems on the one hand and ACS on the other, specifically whether GLS will ultimately exercise its call option for the courier company.

What the Norwegians are looking for in Greece

A new company has recently begun operating in Greece, and not just any company, but a subsidiary arm of the powerful Norwegian group Kongsberg. Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Greece S.A., as it is called, with the trade name KDA Greece, is based on Kanari Street in Kolonaki and has initial share capital of €25,000, paid by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS. Kongsberg Gruppen, based in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg, is a very powerful high-technology group with a leading global presence, 50.004% owned by the Norwegian state. It operates in three main sectors: Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace develops advanced defence systems, missiles, air-defence systems and space technologies; Kongsberg Maritime specialises in automation, navigation and maritime-equipment systems for commercial and naval vessels; and Kongsberg Digital provides digital solutions, IoT software and simulation platforms for shipping and energy. In the maritime sector, it has had a presence in Greece since 2011 through Kongsberg Maritime Hellas S.A., which operates as a key hub for the wider Mediterranean region. The newly established Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Greece S.A. is targeting defence systems, given the major procurement programme of the Hellenic Armed Forces. It should be noted that Kongsberg, among many other things, is, together with the US company Raytheon, a leading global supplier of medium-range air-defence systems such as NASAMS. Its defence and security solutions also include strike missiles, remote weapon stations, command-and-control systems, naval sonar, vessels and more. The activities of the Greek subsidiary include the representation of machinery, industrial equipment for ships and aircraft, strategic management and marketing consulting services, market research, public relations and more. The company’s board includes Øyvind Kolset as chairman, who is also president of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, as well as Erlend Stoa Stenstad and Kristin Myhre as members.

Investments at Kalamata airport

The signing of the concession agreement for the development of Kalamata International Airport, which took place yesterday during the Growthfund Investor Summit, the investment and development conference of Greece’s sovereign wealth fund, marks a new era for the entire Peloponnese. Over the next three years, €28.3m will be invested in upgrading the airport’s infrastructure, while planned investments are expected to reach a total of €120m, including increased airport capacity and improved services for travellers. It is notable that the last major upgrade took place 35 years ago, in 1991. The winning consortium consists of Fraport AG, Airport Investments S.A. and Pileas Holdings S.A., while the concession fee amounts to €45.7m.

New structure from Bakos-Kaimenakis

The well-known business families Bakos and Kaimenakis have set up a new company. It is Cosmos Port Single-Member S.A., based in Piraeus. The purpose of the new structure includes the leasing and management of owned or leased properties, as well as the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. Its initial share capital has been set at €1.2m, fully paid in cash upon incorporation, divided into 12,000 registered shares with a nominal value of €100 each. The capital was paid by the company Cosmos Development S.A., a construction and property-exploitation company of the same interests, which has operated since 2008, is based at the same address in Piraeus and is represented by Nikolaos Bakos. Cosmos Port Single-Member S.A. is managed by a three-member board, with Nikolaos Bakos as chairman and chief executive, Alexandra Kaimenaki as vice-chair and Petros Chrysovrgis as a member. The parent company, Cosmos Development S.A., has the same board composition.

The new move by the former “Mr VAR”

Konstantinos Rouptsos, of the well-known IT company InDigital, set up a new company last Friday. It is called Ellinikon Football Experience Indigital Single-Member P.C., with the trade name “the ellinikon football hub by indigital”. Its purpose includes football, basketball and tennis court services, including 4×4 and 5×5 pitches, a sports-ground café and canteens, physiotherapy activities, gyms, sports-event screening services and the retail trade of sporting goods. The initial share capital is €30,000, paid by InDigital Group S.A., and management of the new company has been taken on by Rouptsos. The businessman, who is also president of Panionios football club, was the person who, through InDigital, brought the famous VAR, or Video Assistant Referee, to Greece, as InDigital, in partnership with Medialuso, had undertaken the project for the “digital transformation of Greek football through modern ICT digital tools”. For more than a year now, that project has been handled by others. InDigital began around 2000 as a company developing specialised software and applications, as well as information-management services, developing the innews electronic press-clipping platform. From 2010 onwards, it expanded its activities by investing in fields such as document management with digital signatures, digital applications in sport, virtual reality, digital marketing and more. Recently, during an update on Panionios, Rouptsos announced an agreement for the use of the new facilities at Ellinikon Sports Park as the team’s training centre. He appears to be working hard at the historic club, with the aim of returning it to the top division. Where he is doing better, however, is in business. According to its latest published financial results, InDigital had turnover of €37.7m in 2024, compared with €23.5m in 2023, while pre-tax profitability almost doubled to €8.2m from €4.81m.

Crédit Agricole focuses on Greek wealth management

Banking and business circles are watching closely the moves of Indosuez, the wealth-management banking arm of the well-known Crédit Agricole, in Greece, at a time when competition for strong private-banking portfolios and new assets under management is at its highest level in recent years. Indosuez recently appointed Giorgos Siaperas, an executive with long experience in the sector, as head of Wealth Management Greece, sending the message that the French bank is determined to strengthen its footprint in the Greek market. The interest now, according to people with knowledge of the balances in the sector, is turning to the next steps and mainly to whether this move will mark the start of a broader round of reshuffles in private banking.

Viohalco: triple record and €13.7bn on the board

In a historic session for the Greek stock market, during which the General Index touched 2,500 points, the Stassinopoulos group stocks took centre stage. ElvalHalcor gave the signal for the rise, soaring by 7.7% to €5.72 and recording a 19-year high, at levels last seen in June 2007, with its market capitalisation at €2.14bn. The buying frenzy is directly linked to the €250m share capital increase being prepared by the company. The move, aimed at financing an ambitious €455m investment plan through 2030, has been welcomed by the market as a catalyst for further strengthening its production capacity. At the same time, Cenergy Holdings continued its impressive course. Yesterday, it gained 2.9% to €26.20, a new all-time high, with its valuation at €5.56bn. The stock was boosted by NBG Securities, which upgraded its profit estimates for the company, setting a new target price of €28.40. The positive climate was clearly reflected in the parent company, Viohalco. Its share price jumped 4.3%, closing at an all-time high of €21.85 and exceeding €22 intraday. With its valuation at €5.66bn, Viohalco achieved a significant internal reversal, overtaking its subsidiary Cenergy in the capitalisation table. The total valuation of the group’s shares, including Noval Property, now exceeds €13.7bn. As for their performance this year, Viohalco is running at +83.6%, Cenergy at +74.6% and ElvalHalcor at +52.1%.

National Bank tests the €16 mark

National Bank of Greece is continuing its upward move, with its share price gaining 1.26% yesterday and closing at €15.70. The stock showed strong reflexes and picked up noticeable speed shortly before the closing auctions, coming within a breath of the psychological €16 threshold, with the day’s high at €15.98. Despite the intraday buying surge, the share lost part of its momentum in the final minutes, closing below its current yearly high of €15.775. This behaviour shows that the area around €15.80 to €16 is acting as a strong short-term resistance zone, where some profit-taking took place. However, National Bank’s technical picture remains aggressive. Analysts note that a clear break above €15.80 on a closing basis would open the way for a breach of €16. In that case, the share would move into uncharted waters for the past decade, as the next significant resistance levels are much higher, back in November 2015, confirming the banking sector’s long-term escape from the crisis.

Where Tsakos is betting with the newbuild capesizes

In shipping, the truly big moves are usually revealed months later, when the market understands exactly what happened. This is how several figures in international shipping are treating the recent orders for newbuild bulk carriers linked to Nikos Tsakos. In brokers’ offices from Singapore to London, the discussion is focused less on the vessels themselves than on the timing of the investment. At a time when many remain wary about the prospects for the dry-bulk market, the decision to make new placements is being read as a vote of confidence in the sector’s future values. Market circles note that Greek shipowners invest where they believe the market will be in three or four years’ time. The more alert observers do not rule out that part of the value may lie not only in operating the vessels but also in the shipbuilding slot itself. If newbuild prices continue to rise and the supply of available slots tightens further, today’s orders may acquire significant added value long before the vessels touch the water. The fact that the move is taking place during a period of intense geopolitical turbulence, uncertainty over the Chinese economy and rising environmental requirements further increases the market’s interest. For many, this is a placement that hides a deeper reading of future balances in the sector.

The signal Metrostar sent to the tanker market

Metrostar’s agreement, by Panagiotis and Dimitris Th. Angelopoulos, for the construction of two MR2 product tankers in China, worth more than $100m, is being interpreted by many as a vote of confidence in the prospects of that market. What is interesting is that Metrostar is not known for headline-grabbing moves. On the contrary, it traditionally invests selectively and with a long-term horizon. It is no coincidence that its previous entry into MR tankers in 2013 ended in a particularly profitable resale. At a time when the energy transition and new regulations are creating uncertainty, the Greek shipowner’s move shows that he still sees value in the product-tanker sector. Those familiar with Metrostar’s philosophy note that when Angelopoulos decides to write new tonnage, he usually does so because he believes the next market cycle is just beginning.

The old hands sell when others get excited

In contrast to those proceeding with newbuilds, moves in the bulker market in recent weeks have provided plenty of material for comment. Panos Laskaridis with Lavinia, Nikos Inglesis with Alberta and the Moundreas family with NGM Energy appear to be taking advantage of the favourable momentum in older capesizes. The vessels Kerkis, Alice Oldendorff and Pigassos have entered the discussion, having been sold in an environment of very favourable freight rates and high values. On the other side are mainly Chinese interests, which continue to look for capacity, even in older vessels. What is interesting is that the Greek shipowners who acquired these assets at lower prices are now finding the opportunity to lock in significant gains. Several market participants link these moves to fleet renewal. Lavinia, for example, already has kamsarmaxes under construction in China, at CMI Qingdao Shipyard and Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry in Yangzhou.

Data centres create major new business in the insurance sector

Five years ago, an average data centre in Zurich Insurance’s portfolio was worth $150m. Today, it is worth $3bn. That is 20 times higher in half a decade. The insurance industry has discovered that such figures no longer fit on its balance sheets. Securitisations are therefore the only route. Insurance-linked securities products are being created that will cut the risk into smaller pieces and distribute it among a broader body of investors. In the insurance market, such tools do not exist in any meaningful form. According to S&P Global, the insurable value of a single data centre can reach $30bn, three times the value of the world’s largest bridges. The cost of GPUs is driving exposure higher, while pressure from private-credit lenders has eliminated loss limits because those lenders demand extra coverage of limits, shifting the entire burden onto insurers. The new tool has a particular appeal. The investor in ILS takes on only the physical-damage risk of the asset. Whether the data centre proves profitable is not their concern. It is a pure transfer of investment risk at a time when the actual return from artificial intelligence remains unproven. Euler ILS Partners is already working with insurers, while Aon is showing interest. Global infrastructure spending will exceed $7tn by 2030. The market is racing to build infrastructure faster than it can price it.

We may run out of mobile phones too

According to the latest figures from IDC, global shipments of smartphones will fall by 13% year on year in 2026. That means 160m fewer devices will be shipped, with total volume dropping to 1.1bn units. This will be the largest fall in the sector’s history. The decline is not due to lower demand. The problem lies in smartphone memory. The shortage of memory chips, DRAM and NAND flash, is radically disrupting the entire production process. Component costs are soaring, and the old low-cost, simpler models, those sold for under $100 and aimed at buyers who are not looking for top performance, have now become loss-making production lines. Last year, around 170m smartphones fell into this price category. This year, that segment of sales is not merely shrinking; it is economically unviable. According to analysts’ estimates, the microchip shortage is expected to continue until mid-2027. Even when supply begins to balance out, chip prices are not expected to return to 2025 levels. The world to which manufacturers return will be one of more expensive memory and more expensive devices. Smartphones will never be cheap again.