-Greetings. Yesterday’s talking point of the day – at least in gossip circles – was the “public appearance”, through a lawyer acting on her behalf, of the US ambassador to Greece. After roughly 10 days and a barrage of reports, mainly from the Wall Street Journal, but also from numerous other American media outlets and one equally influential British publication, the Daily Mail, she offered some explanations for the “explosive” allegations levelled against her: financial dealings, abuse of power, inappropriate behaviour, and trips on businessmen’s boats and aircraft, among other serious accusations, all of which she says are unfounded. She maintains that she was simply pursuing money owed to her from the past by an American, from before she became ambassador, or that she had permission from the State Department to travel on private aircraft in order to do her job, and so on. I do not know how this will end – whether her bosses, Trump and Rubio, will stand by her or not (I doubt it, following the POTUS’s statement last night). One thing is certain, though: these spicy stories have made Greece famous around the world. The Greek source I asked responded sceptically: “You don’t mess with Murdoch, and the Wall Street Journal usually doesn’t drop a story once it gets going.” As everyone knows, media mogul Rupert has been hit with a little… $10bn lawsuit from Trump and is scouring the world for anything he can find on the American administration. A very interesting match.

Mitsotakis, the election benchmark, the leadership hopefuls and the church collection plate

– Let me turn to another subject that has been widely discussed in political circles over the past few days: Mitsotakis’s remark in his interview with Portosalte about whether he had deliberately said – or whether it had simply slipped out – that he would resign if his party won 25% of the vote in the election. A longstanding friend of Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked him about this yesterday or the day before, if I remember correctly, and received an absolutely clear answer from the Prime Minister, which I am passing on to you, not verbatim, of course, since I was not there myself: “What do you think? After all these years, do you really believe I make mistakes when choosing my words in public? Of course I will leave if I get 25%, because, as I have said many times, I feel fulfilled and happy with what I will leave behind after my eight-year term – the state Greece was in in 2019 and where it stands today, despite all our mistakes and shortcomings. Of course, I believe we will get a much higher percentage than 25%, so I don’t see myself leaving…” Mr Mitsotakis said with a smile, before concluding: “I also read that I am supposedly bothered by my ministers holding large pre-election rallies and testing their strength, and so on. I assure you that the exact opposite is true. I am pleased that New Democracy has strong figures who can draw a crowd, and I am even happier because those attending these rallies will vote for the party I lead.” My interpretation of this is that wherever they go, they will all end up putting their votes in the same church collection plate.

A week of opinion polls

– A new round of polling begins today, starting with Interview, followed by Opinion Poll for Action24, and then MARC for ANT1. The quantitative and qualitative findings are not expected to differ significantly from the polling picture already available to Maximos Mansion, as well as to the Hellenic Police (ELAS) and PASOK. The Kasidiaris party is likely to play a decisive role on the right of the political spectrum. It has considerable appeal among younger voters and will eat into the support of several parties in that camp. More polls are also due next week, with further surveys to follow on television channels and in other media outlets.

The Vance platform in Athens

– Let me give you some more practical information today about US Vice-President JD Vance’s expected visit to Athens in February, which will be built around the first conference that Breitbart will organise in Europe. The news outlet is arguably one of the media organisations closest to Trump’s heart. Breitbart’s chief correspondent, Matthew Boyle, has visited Athens several times, interviewed Mitsotakis and ministers, and, I am told, conveyed to Vance his view that there is no better place to reset his relationship with Europe – which got off to a very bad start after his lecture at the 2025 Munich Security Conference – than the birthplace of democracy. The exact dates of the American vice-president’s visit to Athens in February are obviously still unclear, but we are talking about the second ten-day period of February onwards, and several US cabinet members will certainly accompany him. The precise line-up for the conference here will be finalised gradually, and certainly after the November midterm elections. Vance, however, does not want to leave Rubio with a monopoly on making speeches against the backdrop of Athens, as it appears the two men will form the duo competing for the Republican nomination in the 2028 presidential election.

“Your death, my life” – a new edition

– Anyone who listened carefully last May to PASOK figures discussing Tsipras’s new party will remember the obvious discomfort on their faces and in their words. PASOK had just been knocked out of second place in the polls, while Tsipras began dismantling it by drawing away party figures who were heading almost at a run towards ELAS. The summer polling cycle that followed ended with PASOK a distant third, trailing badly, with all the forecasts stacked against it. Then autumn arrived, along with the Thessaloniki International Fair. Miracles do not happen, and political turnarounds are not easy bets. But ELAS did not do particularly well in its… Thessaloniki exam and began to see a ceiling on its polling numbers. PASOK members believe ELAS is losing momentum and that the trend will continue, although they are neither pollsters nor fortune-tellers. Even so, that extra little nudge in the polls has encouraged them, and some have begun making ambitious bets about the final act and the moment – election day – when the groom gets shaved. Meanwhile, ELAS figures are now encountering fired-up PASOK members on panel discussions, ready to abandon once and for all the polite “you and yours” pleasantries with their fellow centrе-left compatriots. Let’s face it: the party’s one-front battle has become a two-front war, and it concerns both parties, because it will not be the contest with New Democracy that determines their place in the political landscape, but the battle for second place. “Your death, my life” has become their everyday battle cry, and those following the… storm surrounding them closely were not particularly surprised by an article from Thanasis Karteros, Alexis Tsipras’s longtime close associate and speechwriter, who publicly wondered whether PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis was an idiot. I am told that quite a few Tsipras supporters – the new, untainted ones, not the battle-hardened veterans – want nothing to do with the extreme, coffee-house-style language used in Karteros’s piece. “Well, let’s at least maintain some standards, folks,” as one young and highly ambitious ELAS figure put it, preferring to keep the temperature down in these confrontations.

What about the others in ELAS?

– PASOK, meanwhile, was seething when it learned of Karteros’s verbal dressing-down of Androulakis. The party blames Tsipras entirely, which is why it has called on him to take a position. Will he? As Tsipras headed to Crete, and while his people insisted that “he didn’t know, he had no idea what Karteros intended to write”, he received differing advice on how to handle the matter. He is a courteous man, but that “it’s us or nobody” line can hardly be described as a compliment to PASOK. So, if he is asked about it during an interview with a Cretan television channel, he will probably try to strike a balance, rather than abruptly disown his trusted associate Karteros.

The battle for Crete

After all, Alexis Tsipras did not travel to Crete for… Karteros, but for PASOK – or, more precisely, for PASOK voters on the island. The forecasts suggest that PASOK retains considerable strength and will fight New Democracy for first place in three of the island’s regional units (that is not a realistic goal in Chania). Tsipras, meanwhile, has made significant inroads among figures with PASOK roots. Vangelis Zacharis, until recently president of the regional council of Crete as part of Stavros Arnaoutakis’s political group, has left PASOK and will be ELAS’s trump card in Heraklion, alongside Charis Mamoulakis, who is independent of SYRIZA. Zacharis is not only a capable political figure but also a popular doctor in Heraklion, and his candidacy with Tsipras is clearly a blow to PASOK. Friends in Crete also tell me that if PASOK does not announce its candidates on the island soon, including Nikos Skoulas in Heraklion, several families will make a mass exodus towards Tsipras.

Swiss-franc borrowers protest – new Supreme Court ruling awaited

– Swiss-franc borrowers are planning nationwide protests on 21 October in Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Rhodes, despite banks’ claims that around 80% of the relevant loans in their portfolios have been included in the settlement scheme. The Swiss Franc Borrowers’ Initiative Committee disputes the suggestion that these figures represent a comprehensive solution to the problem. It argues that the settlement does not treat all borrowers equally, particularly those whose loans are in arrears or whose debts have been transferred to funds and loan servicers. It is also calling for the publication of data on agreements that have actually been completed and demanding further legislative intervention, without conditions that, in its view, restrict borrowers’ ability to pursue legal claims. Another crucial issue for borrowers is the pending ruling by the full bench of the Supreme Court of Greece, following the hearing on 5 December 2025. They are awaiting the decision because they believe it could affect how Swiss-franc loan agreements are treated by the courts. They are also calling for consideration to be given to a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Indices rise, but stocks fall

– More than a third of stocks in Europe and the United States are in bear-market territory. Despite recent turbulence, the S&P 500 recorded a new all-time high at the weekly close. European shares proved less resilient, although the STOXX 600 ended the week just 4% below its August highs. Despite signs in recent sessions that more stocks are participating in the market rally, 38% of S&P 500 constituents are trading at least 20% below their highs over the past 12 months, meeting the technical definition of a bear market, while 18% have fallen by at least 30%. In Europe, 34% of STOXX 600 constituents are at least 20% below their 12-month highs, while 16% have fallen by 30% or more.

Epsilon Net: Is there smoke without fire?

Epsilon Net: Is there smoke without fire?

–Business as usual, according to Epsilon Net, is how discussions and investment interest in the group should be viewed. Sources familiar with the matter, commenting on recent speculation about the sale of shareholdings, said there was essentially nothing new, that discussions were always taking place and that, at present, old information was simply being recirculated, with nothing imminent or definitive. In any case, speculation about a possible sale of stakes — whether those held by minority shareholders General Atlantic and the National Bank of Greece, or part of the majority stake held by Epsilon Net’s main shareholder and head, Ioannis Michos — continues unabated. To some extent, this is considered only natural, given that the group is one of the leaders in business software, with a value that may exceed €1 billion. If anything changes from one day to the next, however, it goes without saying that such a deal could hardly remain… secret. Powerful international players, including funds and investors, continue to keep Greek business software on their radar, given the high level of expertise of companies specialising in the sector and their growth prospects. At present, this applies to Epsilon Net, which naturally remains active on the investment front itself and may well make other announcements in the near future, for example about new products. On the technology side, however — namely, the development of joint products — the partnership between the National Bank of Greece and Epsilon Net has not produced particularly impressive results. Meanwhile, British investment firm Hg acquired 70% of EntersoftOne, at a valuation of just over €1 billion. Some in the market claim that when news broke of the EntersoftOne acquisition, Epsilon Net founder Yiannis Michos was “popping champagne”. For the National Bank of Greece, the numbers add up. It bought its first 7.5% stake in June 2023 at €7.49 per share, paying €30.4 million. It acquired the second tranche in 2024 at the €12-per-share price of the public offer, when the company was valued at €650 million. The total cost was approximately €79 million. At a potential valuation of €1 billion, the bank’s 15% stake would be worth €150 million, before accounting for the acquisition vehicle’s debt. In short, for the National Bank of Greece, the partnership failed to deliver a product. It could, however, very well deliver a capital gain.

How much is Russia worth to Coca-Cola?

–Eurobank Equities raised its price target for Coca-Cola HBC yesterday to €61.70, from €59.50, maintaining a buy recommendation. The share traded at around €51.50 yesterday, up 1.98%, giving the company a market capitalisation of approximately €19.2 billion — or, if you prefer, 11% below its level three months ago. There is an interesting aspect to Eurobank Equities’ report. Analyst Stamatis Drazios estimates that the company’s operations outside Russia, together with African bottler CCBA, which has not yet been consolidated, are worth more than €52 per share. On that basis, the market is currently assigning zero, or even negative, value to the Russian business. In reality, the Russian operation accounts for more than 20% of this year’s operating profits and holds approximately €1 billion in cash, which, naturally, cannot be repatriated. About a month ago, on 18 September, the share fell 5.77% in a single session, its worst performance since April 2025. The trigger was a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin placing the Russian subsidiaries of Nestlé and Auchan under “temporary management”. The subsidiary Multon Partners was not included in the decree. Two days earlier, Eurobank Equities had named the stock among its top picks. Analysts disagree over the relative importance of Russia to Coca-Cola HBC. BNP Paribas Exane, which downgraded the stock in August, estimated that Russia accounted for 30% to 40% of 2026 earnings. Eurobank Equities puts the figure at 17% in 2027, once African bottler CCBA has been consolidated. The market has already priced in the expropriation of the Russian subsidiary. What remains to be seen is whether the Kremlin will dare to carry it out.

Koutsianas: The time for… forced cohabitation

-The time is approaching for Symbeeosis Ev Zin, the company owned by the Koutsianas family whose name evokes the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, to be absorbed through a merger by Nacaro Foods, owned by businessman Evangelos Liakos. Earlier this month, an expert opinion was published concluding that the proposed share-exchange ratio was fair and reasonable. The 2025 financial results have also been released, seemingly confirming the reasons behind the decision. “Against an uncertain economic backdrop, the company sought to make commercial progress, taking into account developments in the sector in which it operates. However, during the period under review, the company’s financial performance did not deliver the expected results,” the report states. Symbeeosis’ turnover therefore rose to €236,160, from €214,650, but its final result was a loss of €1.29 million, up from losses of €999,818. Retained earnings showed accumulated losses of €8.36 million. At the same time, the company expresses the optimistic view that “it looks forward to an improvement in the economic climate and considers a recovery likely”. During 2025, it also ceased operating a branch used to manufacture and package its products and store them at a leased property in the Markopoulo Industrial Park. It now works with companies that store its products but do not constitute branches of the business. As the report notes: “In the following financial year, 2026, and up to the preparation of the financial statements and this report, the company capitalised its loan liabilities to shareholder Nikolaos Koutsianas, amounting to €2,429,500. In addition, merger procedures with another company in the food sector are under way, with the aim of achieving economies of scale, strengthening competitiveness in the market and expanding operations into other markets.” The only question is whether this… cohabitation will work.

Allwyn rallies for six consecutive sessions, regaining €10bn valuation

–Allwyn continued its positive run on the Athens Stock Exchange, recording six consecutive sessions of gains and moving further away from its record low of €11. The share rose 2.5% yesterday to close at €12.40, bringing its total gains over the six-session rally to 11.9% and returning its market capitalisation to around €10 billion. A key factor in improving investor sentiment was the purchase of 995,152 shares, worth €11.5 million, by Karel Komárek’s Valea Foundation between 6 and 8 October. Meanwhile, the company completed its €150 million share buyback programme, acquiring a total of 11.34 million shares. It now holds 5.56% of its own shares. From a technical perspective, the next significant resistance level lies above the €13 range.

Lamda Development falls below €6 for the first time since May

–Lamda Development recorded its fourth consecutive losing session yesterday, having managed just one day of gains in October. The share fell to €5.935, hitting a six-month low and closing below the psychologically significant €6 threshold for the first time since last May. The move further weakens the stock’s technical outlook, with attention now turning to its year-to-date low of €5.88.