Good morning. We are entering the depths of summer, and in our line of work we can see that not only because political and economic news is gradually slowing down, but also from the posts that, judging by the numbers, interest the spectacle-loving public most. In other words, photos and videos of women in swimsuits diving and posing, primarily the so-called influencers, endless gossip, wall-to-wall crime stories, pufferfish and every kind of bouzouki-headed character circulating on social media and elsewhere.

Now to the political news. We have a new wave, or rather a small wave, of polls. Yesterday, a Realpolls survey came out which, I am told, was a little over the top. It is conducted via Viber and shows our beloved Alexis Tsipras at 21% in vote estimate, four points higher than every other polling company measures him. It places New Democracy roughly at its current levels, Maria Karystianou third and our Nikos at Conference level, which is just fine.

I asked my source at the Maximos Mansion about the Realpolls poll. I did not see them taking it particularly seriously, nor was there any strong reaction. They have received their own measurement, in which New Democracy is at 30%, Tsipras at 17%, Karystianou at 11% and Nikos at 9.5%. I think the other surveys due to come out will be somewhere around there.

Now, if you ask me “what’s new with PASOK”, there is nothing new, first because June is ending, so we have entered the summer lull, and second because no one is taking on the task of pulling the plug on Nikos. Besides, the way he is going, he will pull it himself.

As for Haris Doukas, PASOK figures consider the matter now settled. Haris is looking to move towards Tsipras, either as one of his parliamentary candidates or as his candidate for mayor of Athens in 2028. The rift in his relationship with Christos Protopapas also appears just as deep. Protopapas hears the name Tsipras and runs for the hills. I, of course, still wonder whether Tsipras would actually take him anywhere, because I do not see the obvious political benefit.

Karamanlis and Samaras

At the presentation of Michalis Sallas’s book yesterday, as expected, there were dozens of politicians, business figures, market executives and lifelong friends of the banker who created Greece’s largest bank. What several people wondered, including myself, was why Samaras did not sit together with K.K.R., meaning Kostas Karamanlis of Rafina.

In recent months, we had grown used to seeing them whispering together, side by side, at all their public appearances. Yesterday, Karamanlis was sitting with Venizelos, who has also recently toned down his criticism of Mitsotakis.

I asked three or four politicians from across the spectrum, and their view is that Karamanlis no longer wants to be “packaged” together publicly with Samaras at events, simply because Samaras is forming a party against New Democracy, to which Karamanlis still formally belongs. Time will tell.

The meeting on occupational pension funds

A lot of people passed through the doors of the Maximos Mansion yesterday, but I am told that an interesting meeting took place with the participation of Pierrakakis and Petralias, Kerameus, Deputy Minister Anna Efthymiou and Maximos Mansion officials, concerning the bill on occupational pension funds, which will go before next week’s cabinet meeting.

The exercise is genuinely serious and difficult, as an effort is being made to safeguard the long-term viability of the social security system, especially the pensions of those under 40.

The first change is the creation of open occupational pension funds, which will operate as umbrella funds. These occupational pension funds will be able to accept new companies without separate supervisory approvals, but only following one initial licence from the competent authority, which will be granted under very specific conditions.

The second change concerns the full portability of insurance rights. In other words, employees who change employers more often will now be able to transfer their rights easily from one occupational pension fund to another.

The third main intervention concerns new tax incentives, so that participation in occupational pension funds becomes more attractive both for employees and for employers.

No plans for visits by Rubio or Hegseth

From my source at the foreign ministry, I learnt that there is no planning for a Trump visit to Athens on the occasion of his arrival in the region for the NATO summit in Ankara on 7 and 8 July. And, of course, no one would want such an important visit to be combined with a visit to Turkey, giving a “Greek-Turkish character” to a relationship that we hope to develop in other directions.

Also, so that you do not read and hear all sorts of things, there is no planning for visits either by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio or by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Maria’s troika is driving people away

Karystianou’s party is beginning to deflate like a balloon, losing officials and, obviously, voters who see it operating on autopilot. The departure of Kokotsakis, who was in charge of organising gatherings in Crete, is not insignificant, as the party wanted to begin its tours from there.

Now, the leader Maria is saying some rather tasty things about Trojan horses and “plants” inside the party. The truth, however, is that Kokotsakis was her own technical adviser in the Tempi case.

The most interesting thing is that both he and Air Marshal Papanikolaou are saying off the record that the party is run by a troika: Maria, Maria Grazia and Nikos Galanos, the former MP who has taken charge of the entire organisation.

Someone also tells me that Avgerinos has begun to feel uncomfortable with various developments, though this is difficult to substantiate at this stage.

Dinner with spouses

On the sidelines of the presentation of Michalis Sallas’s book, What Went Wrong in Greece, at the National Gallery, Mr Georgiadis told journalists that Mr Kasselakis was well read on issues concerning the National Health System and did not stray from the subject of the discussion.

Asked whether there would be a meal with Stefanos Kasselakis and Tyler McBeth, he replied in the affirmative. “Eugenia will be there too,” he clarified.

Piraeus Bank’s negotiations with IASO

Let me begin today’s market news with an important story, the kind we do not hear every day, concerning a business development that, if it reaches completion, will reshape the balance in the sector.

Christos Megalou, apart from Bioiatriki, owned by the Spanos family, has also been talking a great deal recently with IASO. To be exact, they are in proper negotiations and, according to the information available, the matter should be close to completion, meaning close to a deal.

Perhaps this explains why Piraeus Bank has put the Bioiatriki deal on standby. Let me remind you that IASO is owned by Oaktree Capital Management, headed in Greece by Spyros Spyropoulos. The fund’s divestment period expired long ago and is now in a period of extensions.

The approach between Piraeus Bank and IASO also reveals Christos Megalou’s plan. Together with Errikos Dunant, the former Euromedica hospitals that Piraeus Bank has bought, if the IASO deal closes and possibly Bioiatriki follows, a large private healthcare group will be created, tied to Ethniki Insurance. In other words, an insurance and healthcare package that will provide the right products.

Christos Megalou’s three deals

The negotiations between Piraeus Bank and IASO may also explain something else. The Single Supervisory Mechanism pressed Piraeus Bank to sell all its non-banking holdings. Christos Megalou negotiated with the supervisor and secured the retention of the bank’s investments in healthcare, namely Errikos Dunant and the former Euromedica hospitals.

Everything else, namely Attica Group, MIG, meaning real estate in Serbia, and ETBA Industrial Areas, will be sold. When these sales take place, they will probably mark the end of Strinx, since it will essentially no longer have a purpose. But that is another discussion.

As for Christos Megalou, we have to acknowledge that, because he spent half his professional life as an investment banker, now that he is a chief executive he continues to think and act on the same terms.

Only during this period, and from what Dark Room knows, because there will certainly be more, he is in talks to buy IASO. At the same time, he has a certain oversight of the CEPAL-INTRUM approach and is also negotiating with Theodore Kyriakou and K Group to sell Attica Group.

Atlantic’s ambitions

The US ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle was about 45 minutes late arriving at yesterday’s event on the Vertical Corridor and the LNG agreements. However, the wait did not spoil the mood of Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou, who welcomed her warmly, with the ambassador responding with a warm embrace.

And so the event got down to business, as the ambassador was the central figure, with speakers Alexandros Exarchou and Konstantinos Xifaras placing particular importance on the support provided by the American side.

Beyond that, however, the interest also lay in the business implications that were revealed. Atlantic SEE LNG Trade, the joint venture between AKTOR and DEPA Commercial, appears to be preparing to take on a more active role in the regional natural gas market, with plans for short-term LNG supply agreements in south-eastern Europe as early as 2026.

The Hellenic Capital Market Commission has switched on the algorithm

About a year ago, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission managed to obtain from India’s corresponding supervisory authority an algorithm that scans the internet. The Commission gave the algorithm to the research team at Archimedes, which worked on it, making the necessary adjustments for Greek conditions.

That work has been completed, and the Commission has put the algorithm into pilot operation. The result was surprising, because it produced a rich, even heavy, list of websites belonging to companies that provide investment services without authorisation.

I hear that the Commission is now going through the results, investigating them and cross-checking them in order to verify their correctness and accuracy. Barring the unexpected, a wave of warnings to the investing public will follow, urging people to avoid the companies on the list.

Since warnings may not be enough, however, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission has also sent to the finance ministry for approval a provision which, if taken forward, will allow the Commission to appeal to the National Telecommunications and Post Commission and take down those websites, following the model of the Hellenic Gaming Commission.

The lies about lignite and petty political self-interest

Recently, a fairy tale has been circulating persistently on social media, growing louder as the local government ambitions of certain figures increase. The narrative says that “Greece gives cheap electricity to Bulgaria at midday and buys it back at night at a very high price.” Impressive. And, as a rule, false.

The ENTSO-E and HEnEx data up to 24 June 2026, presented by Deputy Energy Minister Nikos Tsafos, prove the opposite.

First, Greece is a net exporter to Bulgaria for 84% of the hours this year, in the morning, at midday and at night, with net exports of more than one gigawatt even during the evening hours.

Second, the Greek price is equal to or lower than the Bulgarian price for 98% of the hours. Bulgaria is cheaper in just 2% of the hours, about 83 hours in six months. The idea that Greece “buys it back expensively” simply does not emerge from the figures.

The second part of the myth, that lignite remains a “national, cheap fuel”, is demolished by reality itself.

This is where petty politics comes in, as a former PPC trade unionist, one of those who have done little actual work because they were constantly “protecting” the rights of their colleagues, now has mayoral ambitions in the municipality of Eordaia, meaning Ptolemaida, and is deliberately creating noise around his name.

He sees an opportunity to try again by claiming something that is already dead: lignite.

With the price of CO2 allowances stable at around €80 a tonne, and trending towards €90 to €100, the cost of emissions alone soars from €92 per megawatt hour at Ptolemaida V to €160 per megawatt hour at older units. At the same time, the wholesale price is close to €90 per megawatt hour.

In other words, lignite produces a loss before salaries and maintenance are even counted.

Behind the myth lies the real agenda. PPC has announced an investment plan of €5.75bn to transform Western Macedonia into a green and digital hub, with 2.13 gigawatts of solar power, pumped storage and a 300-megawatt mega data centre, expandable to one gigawatt, at the Agios Dimitrios power station.

Some people are being unsettled not by nostalgia, but by petty political mania. Because data do not vote.

GEK TERNA’s good day and Rheinmetall’s bad day

The strategic binding agreement between GEK TERNA and Rheinmetall for their co-operation in the defence sector is significant and interesting, but the announcement coincided with difficult timing for Rheinmetall.

The German group from Düsseldorf, which manufactures cars and weapons, saw its share price fall by as much as 14% yesterday, an extreme percentage for such stocks in mature markets, because the German government is to abandon a defence programme for the construction of six frigates, Germany’s largest since the Second World War, in which Rheinmetall would have been a key contractor.

By contrast, GEK TERNA’s share remains very close to its record highs of €46.50, with its market capitalisation now standing at €4.7bn.

The market expects major corporate announcements from Aktor

Today, barring the unexpected, we should expect major corporate announcements from the Aktor group.

Although the company has officially clarified that it is constantly examining investment opportunities without there yet being any binding agreement, the market is pricing in imminent developments that will give the share strong fuel.

Aktor is going through an impressive period, breaking one record after another. Closing at €12.96, with an intraday high of €13, it completed five consecutive rising sessions with cumulative gains of 18.5%.

At the same time, it has recorded a positive eight out of nine sessions, with a return of 33.6% compared with the 11 June closing price of €9.70.

The rally in the share is being fuelled by the group’s strategic upgrade. Management is placing Aktor at the centre of major regional projects. Indicative of this is its active support for the restart of the Vertical Corridor, a project Alexandros Exarchou described as a national wager and a huge geopolitical opportunity for turning Greece into an energy hub towards Central Europe.

At the same time, buying interest is being maintained by the strong growth momentum.

The thorn in the Lamda-ION agreement

The major €1.5bn deal between Lamda Development and Andrea Pignataro’s ION group, announced in August 2025, provides for a land price of €450m and a total investment of more than €1.5bn for the International Research and Innovation Centre at Ellinikon.

The full legal, technical and financial due diligence has essentially been completed, but according to information there are negotiations over the shareholding part of the agreement.

The initial agreement provided that ION would acquire 2% of Lamda Development’s share capital. With the current market capitalisation at €1.19bn, the disputed 2% corresponds to 3.53m shares, worth about €24m at current price levels.

The difference between the two sides concerns the price of that package. According to information, ION is seeking to acquire the package for no consideration, as part of the wider transaction. Lamda’s management does not agree.

The tension was also evident at the general meeting, when Odysseas Athanasiou admitted that the talks were “particularly demanding”. He even went so far as to describe them as “nightmarish”, estimating that the fate of the matter would be decided within two months, positively or negatively.

That is also where the reference to “Plan B” and “Plan C” came from.

The market, however, is not panicking. The share is holding its price of €6.70 and waiting, with analysts seeing an average target price above €10.

After all, the deal with ION is considered one of the keys that will unlock the revaluation of the share, which is why every delay counts double.

ADMIE’s gains and the Athens Stock Exchange gates for Attica Stores

Yesterday’s debut trading of the new ADMIE Holdings shares from the capital increase was accompanied by a significant rise in the share.

With the share gaining 3.18% to €4.7050, those who acquired shares at the offer price of €4.05 are already recording, from the first day, a gain of 16%, without anxiety and without effort.

Qube Research, which opened a 0.53% short position on 19 June, betting that the new shares would bring a correction, was triumphantly proved wrong.

This success serves precisely as advertising for the next major public offering, that of Attica Stores. The offer began yesterday and is completed tomorrow, with trading due to begin on 2 July.

Existing IDEAL shareholders are rushing to take advantage of the privilege offered by management. The terms of the public offer provide for preferential priority allocation of up to 500 shares per existing individual IDEAL shareholder.

Of the approximately 18m shares being offered, 2.5m are intended as a guaranteed allocation to IDEAL shareholders. It was no coincidence that IDEAL hastened to return capital of €0.70 per share before the public offering.

The heatwave sets prices on fire, while Greece exports energy

The heatwave in Central Europe has sent demand soaring and, with it, wholesale energy prices, even in countries with large generating capacity, such as nuclear-powered France.

Yesterday, average wholesale prices were €207.80 per megawatt hour in Germany, €257.50 per megawatt hour in Belgium and €157.90 per megawatt hour in France, while in Italy the price was €161 per megawatt hour.

In Greece, the average wholesale price stood at €140 per megawatt hour, as renewable energy sources covered 42.1% of demand, reaching 48% together with hydropower.

Indeed, last weekend, when wind generation was strong, the “green mix” of energy reached 68% during the night-time hours.

So far in the second quarter, 54.2% of the network’s energy needs have been covered by renewable energy sources and 7.12% by hydropower. Imports have fallen to 5.2%, while exports have risen to 16.5%.

During this period, Greece appears as a net exporter of 1,535 gigawatt hours.

Two new billion-euro companies on Euronext Athens

The Greek stock market welcomed two new members to the “club” of listed companies, now numbering 31, with valuations of more than €1bn.

Piraeus Port Authority and Kri Kri reached this important milestone, confirming the strong investment interest in companies with solid fundamentals.

Piraeus Port Authority recorded its best daily performance in the past 14 months, jumping 7.3% to close at €42, its highest level since the middle of last November. This development took its market capitalisation to €1.05bn.

At the same time, Kri Kri broke through the €30 barrier for the first time. With a rise of 4.5% to €30.30, the share reached a new record high, with its performance this year approaching 60%.

The activity was also reflected in turnover, which exceeded €1m for another session, with the dairy company’s market value reaching €1.001bn.

DotSoft’s transaction at a double-digit discount and its target of moving to the Main Market

Diorama II, managed by DECA, acquired 40% of the share capital and voting rights of DotSoft, a small IT company on the Alternative Market, crossing the one-third threshold.

According to information, the transaction closed at a double-digit discount to the current stock market price. On the Alternative Market of Euronext Athens, liquidity is low and the screen does not reliably reflect the value of a 40% block.

This is a secondary transaction. No new capital is entering the company, and existing shareholders are cashing in part of their position.

According to information, the sellers included the main shareholder, the second-largest shareholder and smaller shareholders. The chief executive and main shareholder, Anastasios Manos, retains a significant stake and remains at the helm.

DotSoft’s next major target is expansion into international markets, at the same time as its transfer to the Main Market of the stock exchange.

The Bank of Greece and how Greece is losing shipping’s greatest wager

The recent report by the Bank of Greece serves as a reminder of a longstanding Greek contradiction.

The country has the largest merchant fleet in the world, controlling around 16% of global transport capacity, while maritime transport brings in more than €18bn annually and contributes decisively to the balance of payments and the outward-looking character of the economy.

And yet, a large part of the value produced by this shipping superpower continues to be created outside Greece’s borders.

Greek shipowners are consistently among the world’s largest investors in new ships, with orders worth billions of dollars in China, South Korea and Japan. The jobs, know-how and industrial added value generated by these investments remain mainly in the countries where the ships are built, rather than in Greece.

That is why the real issue is not a nostalgic return to the shipyards of the past. It is the creation of a modern industrial base connected to the shipping of the future: green fuels, energy infrastructure, defence manufacturing, digital systems and advanced maritime equipment.

If Greece manages to claim even part of this value chain, then shipping will cease to be simply a powerful export sector and will become a lever for the country’s industrial and technological renewal.

The shipping power game on Wall Street has only just begun

Behind the voting numbers lies one of the toughest corporate confrontations the Wall Street shipping community has seen in recent years.

Genco’s management managed to fend off the attempt by Diana Shipping, associated with Semiramis Paliou, to gain greater influence over the company, securing approval of the famous “poison pill” with 54% and maintaining control of the board.

The naval battle, however, has ended only formally.

Diana, as Genco’s largest shareholder with a stake of more than 14%, proved that it has the power to challenge management openly and keep it under pressure.

Despite its defeat at the ballot box, it managed to highlight weaknesses in corporate governance and bring to the fore questions that are already concerning institutional investors.

What Wall Street sees today is a company that defended itself successfully but has not freed itself from danger.

On the contrary, Diana’s improved takeover proposal shows that the target remains the same: either to gain control of Genco or to force management to sit down at the negotiating table on better terms.

The real question now is not who won the vote. It is who will last longer in a contest that is turning into a game of strategy, influence and patience between two listed shipping players.

And in the markets, when a would-be buyer comes back four times with an ever-higher offer, it usually has no intention of leaving the table.

Petros Panagiotidis has taken out the cheque book again

Castor Maritime’s return to the second-hand vessel market with the acquisition of a 2023-built Kamsarmax for $37.5m is more than a simple investment.

It is an indication that Petros Panagiotidis believes conditions in the freight market once again justify deploying capital into quality assets.

After a two-year period during which the company sold a large part of its fleet and significantly strengthened its liquidity, Castor now appears with a strong cash position and limited dependence on borrowing.

The fact that the acquisition is being financed entirely from available funds confirms the comfort offered by its balance sheet.

For investors, the significance of the move lies mainly in its timing. Panagiotidis is not choosing an aggressive expansion, but a targeted purchase of a modern vessel, showing that he sees value in the dry bulk market without taking on excessive risk.