The remaining awards went to Athens, Stockholm, Warsaw and the English city of Kirklees. Each city will receive a donation of one million euros each. More than 150 cities from 28 countries participated in this year’s competition.

The award was given to Athens because of its creation of a new online platform, “SynAthina,” which aims to connect citizen groups that organize activities to improve the quality of life in the city.

“The devastating financial crisis adversely affected the labor market, infrastructure, and life in the urban centers of Greece. Athens will create an online platform that helps civil society, local institutions, and local government to collaboratively devise solutions to local problems, which in turn will help ensure the development of sustainable neighborhoods for the revival of Athens,” said Bloomberg.

To read more, please visit greekreporter.com

By Ioanna Zikakou

artdaily.com

A city that used to be known for its noise and graffiti painted walls has now turned into a beautiful capital filled with parks and pedestrian streets with inviting cafés and benches to relax, noted the article. Meanwhile, Steves made a special note to Athens’ biggest draw — its archaeological sites.

“Even in today’s bustle, you can still feel the aura of the ancient Greeks, who reached their apex here nearly 2,500 years ago. With the mighty Acropolis crowning the old centre, you’re constantly reminded as you wander the streets of Athens that this is the birthplace of Western civilization, itself,” he wrote.

He takes a “virtual” stroll around some of the city’s most significant archaeological sites such as the Acropolis Museum, the ancient Agora, and the pedestrian street Dionysiou Areopagitou. He then presents the modern face of Athens, with many traditional taverns and restaurants where one can enjoy Greek delicacies.

To read more, please visit greekreporter.com

By Ioanna Zikakou

According to Chinese news broadcaster CCTV, there have been several cases of Greeks who saw China’s market as a major opportunity. During an interview, Semiramis Paliou spoke of the reasons behind her decision. When the crisis hit Greece, she left and opened a luxury travel agency in Beijing. “I think if the crisis hadn’t arrived, we would still be in our old set ways of mass tourism, that we’re happy as we are, that we don’t need to change anything, and we would have stagnated,” she said.

Pavlos Kontomichalos has been working in China for more than twenty years. However, due to the crisis, more and more entrepreneurs from Greece are coming in contact with him and requesting his help, especially in the field of selling oil and other relative products.

“It gets people thinking that we need to produce our own end product that is at par, if not better, than the ones produced in other countries so the value added is captured by the Greek companies and the Greek products,” Kontomichalos noted during his interview.

To read more, please visit greekreporter.com

By Ioanna Zikakou

Speaking to Fox business from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Logothetis appeared more optimistic than ever before as he called 2014 the year of Greek growth.

He stressed that in Greece there is not just a crisis, but also opportunities, and “from now on we should talk more about the Greek opportunities and less about the Greek crisis.”

“As a Greek, I have a duty to help Greece, and the marriage of that duty and opportunity is a powerful force,” said Logothetis.

Libra, which includes 30 subsidiaries, spans 26 locations across four continents. The Group predominantly focuses on shipping, aviation, real estate, hospitality and renewable energy. George Logothetis first joined his family’s shipping company in 1993, becoming CEO a year later at the age of 19. In the ensuing years he presided over the company’s transformation from three vessels into a fleet of 55. He created the Libra Group as a means of diversifying the family’s business which was facilitated by the sale of 67 vessels between 2004 and 2007.

Libra Group has purchased around $5 billion of assets globally since a worldwide recession in 2008, and is stepping up investments in Greece, especially in the hotel and renewable energy sectors, Logothetis has previously stated.

Libra recently launched the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award, which offers entrepreneurs in Greece the chance to receive funding of up to €500,000 plus comprehensive mentoring and consultancy for a new business venture.

By Anastasios Papapostolou
 

Greek Reporter

“We have found that our genetic code can be interpreted in two different ways, not just one,” said the leading Greek researcher commenting for the first time on this fundamental discovery, which was featured in the winter edition of the scientific "Science" magazine and is predicted to change biology as we know it.

"While we knew about the existence of a second, functional, code from the 80′s, we couldn’t locate where this code was hidden in the genome. We now discovered that the functional code is not located in a separate part of the genome, but an important part of this information is written onto our already known genetic code. The functional proteins, therefore, also read our genetic code, but differently," added the professor from Greece.
 

greeknewsagenda.gr

During the presentation, there were more than 1,000 meetings between 200 investment fund managers and 28 listed companies involved in the Roadshow.

The companies that participated in this year’s Roadshow were: National Bank, Eurobank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Lamda Development, Marfin Investment Group, OTE, Postbank, Hellenic Petroleum, OPAP,  Motor Oil, PPC , Titan, Intralot, Sarantis, Mytilene, Follie Follie, Eurobank Properties, Frigoglass, Fourlis, Metka, EHAE, GEK – Terna, Kri-Kri, MLS Multimedia, Terna Energy.

The interest of foreign institutional investors in the Greek market was booming and many new investment houses came into contact with Greek businesses, resulting for the first time to extend the meetings for three days in order to meet the strong investor interest. Prospective investors came from the UK , Switzerland, Germany and the U.S. and Canada.

Source: Greek Reporter

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Christos Staikouras proceeded to canceling the bonds, by deleting them, indeed, of the total public debt.

“We thank the non-profit organization Greece Debt Free for the strong symbolic initiative, such initiatives designate the enduring power of Hellenism.” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

Greece Debt Free, is two organizations, but one movement. Greece Debt Free Inc. (USA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit while it also operates a Greek non-profit.

To read more, please visit greekreporter.com

By Sotiria Nikolouli