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After the fires, comes the rain [InTime News]
Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. The passing of storm ‘Daniel’ left at least 14 people dead with unprecedented flooding across large swathes of the Thessaly flatlands in central Greece threatening the homes and livelihoods of thousands. The emergency services have already conducted more than 1,800 rescue operations across Greece since Tuesday, with hundreds of people remaining trapped in their homes or places of refuge. As late as Saturday, 35 villages in the region were placed on high alert and were told to be ready to evacuate. The storm is thought to be approximately three times larger than the 2020 cyclone ‘Ianos’ that also flooded the region, with the damage done to the region’s agriculture this week also considered to be many times worse than in 2020. What was shaping up to be a busy political week, headlined by the prime minister’s address at the Thessaloniki International Fair and the election of a new SYRIZA leader, was completely upended by the extent of the destruction caused by ‘Daniel’. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis postponed his speech at the Fair for next week, instead visiting the stricken areas. There, he pledged that he will support those affected by the flooding and rapid compensation. However, the flooding is only the latest in a series of crises this summer that have exposed the responsiveness (or lack thereof) of the mechanisms of the Greek state as well as the weaknesses of the political leadership on both the regional and national level to adequately prepare and confront these threats. Once again, Greece was witness to the failure of executing projects already announced and funded (in this case, the construction of earthworks and embankments in the region following the 2020 storm), political bickering, and finger-pointing between relevant ministries and authorities. Spotlight
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OPINION
 [InTime News]The ruling party had invested heavily on projecting an image of competence during the election campaigns of both 2019 and 2023.Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis personally assured people that he was able and willing to proceed with deep changes and bold reforms that would modernize Greece. More than four years later, the reality is such that even well-intentioned observers note the inability of the state mechanism to effectively deal with a wide range of issues, let alone major crises.It is obvious that Greece, like the rest of the world, is faced with unprecedented disasters, to a large extent the result of natural phenomena. Climate change is part of our lives. But this has nothing to do with critical public agencies being dysfunctional and repeatedly failing to proactively respond with the necessary planning and effective implementation of measures. Snowstorms, wildfires, floods, are obviously not political. The question is what kind of long and short term planning, supported by the appropriate financing, takes place, and what kind of action is taken when disaster hits. There need to be changes to the state apparatus. The prime minister can and should work on creating an environment where there is better coordination among different ministries and agencies. The reality has proven that time is of essence. Further delays in projects that aim at avoiding, or enabling a timely response to, fires or floods cannot be tolerated. The same is also true with respect to upgrading Greece’s railway network, to remember another recent disaster. In this effort there is no room for personal animosities. The best and the brightest should be sought out, no matter where they belong politically. When you are at war, you want your back up to be the best sniper there is. You don’t care which party he or she voted for. After the recent huge victory of New Democracy, a lot of us noted that the absence of a strong opposition created a vacuum in the critical sphere of checks and balances. A second dimension of this reality is that the government cannot put the blame on someone else for any failures. Its performance can only be measured against itself. |
| CHART OF THE WEEK |
 Audits carried out by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) revealed that almost a third of businesses investigated evaded paying taxes in 2023 (up until August 31). The 50,000 investigations were mostly carried out at the level of visiting the business, looking to identify violations on the spot. Other audits were carried out by cross-checking available data, with a particular emphasis placed on information available on the tax authority’s digital platforms as well as POS data. In fact, POS systems have been one of the main tools in tracking down violations as the AADE pinpointed vendors who completed POS transactions but failed to issue any relevant receipts. |
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| ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL |
| “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index saw weekly losses of 3.08%, closing at 1,259.50 points. In a gloomy week for the market, Greek banks performed well with their index growing by 2.19%.” |
| “Credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar lifted Greece to investment status on Friday night, upgrading the country from BB (high) to BBB (low), ending almost 13 years of ‘junk status’. With DBRS being one of the agencies taken into account by the European Central Bank, the upgrade, aside from its symbolic value, is expected to tangibly benefit the Greek economy.” |
| “The Greek inflation rate continues to climb, rising to 2.7% in August from 2.5% in July. Rising food prices, set to be exacerbated by the flooding in Thessaly that affected crops and animal farming, and fuel prices are among the most important drivers, with one in five small and medium-sized enterprises also planning price hikes in the second half of 2023.” |
| WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA |
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Editor's Pick For the first time in many years, direct talks on all issues have commenced at a very high level. Ankara has placed all the issues on the table.Alexis PapachelasRead the article |
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