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Meteorologists warn that this winter in Greece will be exceptionally cold and is expected to be the coldest winter of the past decade. So far other Balkan countries have had a preview of the weather to come with snowfall documented as early as the 22nd of October.

In recent years the winters have been somewhat mild, with limited instances of snowfall in the urban areas. This year though the temperatures are set to drop, with eastern parts of Europe preparing for some polar temperatures, as anticyclones entrench themselves in the west of the continent.
 

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On a global level, shipowners acquired 76 ships for a total of 1.3 billion euros, which means that Greek shippers accounted for just over half of the market share in terms of value last month. Transaction value was 40 percent lower compared to a year earlier.

Dry-bulk carriers comprised the lion’s share of Greek acquisitions, as nine came into Greek hands at a price of 137 million euros. Greeks also bought six tankers, whose combined prices added up to 171 million euros, while the five container ships bought set shippers back 54.5 million euros, the Golden Destiny data showed.

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By Nikos Roussanoglou

At a press conference regarding the possible VAT hike, SETE head Andreas Andreadis on Monday described such a move as fiscal suicide. Citing the analysis of economic scenarios for 2015 by SETE Intelligence, he stressed that the implementation of the measure would generate a negative domino effect in the economy, reducing GDP by over 2 percentage points, and that it would also have a dramatic impact on the labor market, as for every million tourists missed out on, some 30,000 jobs would be lost. Andreadis added that the impact on the flow of tourists would amount to 2.5 million fewer next year and even greater losses in 2016.

Andreadis warned that if the VAT rate on accommodation doubles, hotel enterprises will be forced to renegotiate with tour operators, rendering Greek tourism less competitive and pushing millions of tourists toward the country’s competitors. He reminded reporters that Turkey has an 8 percent VAT rate for tourism accommodation and catering, while Portugal’s amounts to 7 percent, and Italy’s and France’s stand at 10 percent.

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The production of several types of beer, the active operation of small breweries, as well as advertising, helped keep customers interested in the product.

Small breweries made a small revolution in Greece over the last five years. Despite competing against multinational companies such as Heineken and Carlsberg, new small breweries have started operating across Greece, producing quality products and implementing innovative ideas.

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By Ioanna Zikakou

However a more realistic target would be 2016, when the 7-billion-euro investment is expected to start.

The project aims to to create a destination of global appeal that will increase the annual tourism flow to the Greek capital to 3 million visitors from 2 million today.

It will include a 2 sq.km metropolitan park, a 3.5 km seafront and supplementary infrastructure such as roads, squares, utility networks, and a tram link with metro stations, among others.

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In her native Greece, the economy was crashing. “Life was literally ending,” deadpans Grabowski over the phone from Paris. “Every day another shop would close, there would be a new story of suicide in the papers, people were desperate.”

But the sense of despair, palpable on the streets of Athens, was not financial alone. A deeper, existential crisis was bubbling beneath the boarded-up windows and empty cash registers. Generous salaries, secure pensions and a low retirement age had made public sector jobs the most sought after in the country. “This mindset was thrown into disarray when people started getting fired,” says Grabowski. “Everything they believed in no longer existed.”

Two years later, Grabowski was sitting in the kitchen of Dimitra Kolotoura, the founder of Greek travel and tourism communications company DK Associates, reading a copy of The Economist. The two friends would often meet to discuss how things might be improved. “That day, we were talking about an article I was reading,” recalls Grabowski. “It detailed how skilled craftsmanship in Greece was dying out in the crisis and that struck us both as deeply sad. We decided to take a few trips to see what was still being made out there; and as we both love fashion, apparel seemed like an obvious place to start.”

The pair embarked on a year-long quest, dipping in and out of workshops, finding the finest craft-makers in the country and, ultimately, decided to start working with the Conis family, known for their traditional leather sandals. “We must have seemed absolutely insane,” laughs Kolotoura. “At the time, they had no customers, Athens was burning and there we were — two women, giving them sketches of our perfect sandal and how we wanted it made.”

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