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Farmers at the ramparts [InTime News]
Welcome to the weekly news round-up by Kathimerini English Edition. There was an escalation in mobilizations by Greece’s farmers this week, mirroring similar incidents across Europe, which culminated in a big rally outside the annual ‘Agrotica’ trade fair in Thessaloniki with representatives from across the country. The farmers, who have been hit with increased production costs and also suffered damages from the summer’s wildfires and flooding, have signalled that they are determined to continue their mobilizations. Many of those outside the Thessaloniki trade fair dismissed a slew of measures announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday as insufficient. Among other measures, Mitsotakis announced that his government would extend a special tax reimbursement on agricultural diesel for a year (at a cost of 82 million euros), responding to the call by the country’s primary sector to decrease energy costs, while also stating that the Public Power Corporation will offer an additional 10% discount on electricity supplied for agricultural activities in the busy months between May and September. Additionally, earlier in the week, the prime minister announced that farmers stricken by the devastating flooding in central Greece would receive payments of up to 10,000 euros. The issue of government support for the flood-stricken agricultural units has been particularly contentious, as their owners are complaining that government support has been delayed. The mobilizations are a particularly thorny issue for the government as New Democracy was far and away the highest polling party among Greece’s farmers during last year’s elections (48%). The government will be looking to avoid open conflict with one of its core voting demographics, especially as February will see several contentious issues come to the fore including the parliamentary vote to legalize same-sex marriage and legislation allowing the founding of private universities. Not to mention that all of this is taking place a few months before the European Elections of June. Spotlight
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OPINION
 [AP]Senator Chris Van Hollen, an important voice of the Democratic caucus in the upper chamber of Congress, announced that he will not aim to block the sale of F-16s to Turkey after the latter has ceased its incursions into Greek airspace, and, maybe more importantly, the Biden Administration gave him assurances that it will continue to monitor this matter closely. Ankara’s behaviour towards Athens is obviously not the only cause of concern in Washington regarding Turkey. Every serious observer of US – Turkish relations knows that it was not the overflights but other actions, most important of all the purchase of the Russian S-400s, that infuriated the US, both the Administration and, even more so, the Congress. Still, Athens and the Greek American community managed to put the issue of Turkish F-16s flying over Greek islands on the map and make it part of the debate. Not a minor achievement. As we move forward, and the US is working on managing its complex relationship with Turkey – there is an array of issues on which the two countries disagree, to put it mildly – Congressional oversight will remain a crucial part of the equation. And Greek Americans, emboldened by Greece’s reliability as a strategic ally and its tangible contributions in an important region, will continue to play their part. |
| CHART OF THE WEEK |
 Spending on foodstuffs by Greek households remains inflexible as, despite the diminishing of their disposable income due to constant price hikes, there has been no equivalent reduction in the volume of sales of these goods. Specifically, while food prices increased by 9% in 2023, the overall volume of sales in supermarkets (not just food) saw a small increase of 0.4%. The smaller-than-anticipated change in the volume of sales can be partly attributed to the shift by some consumers to more budget-friendly options. However, the market share of own-label brands remains much lower than in the rest of Europe despite this shift by consumers. This is considered as one of the main reasons that the prices of food and basic household goods remains very high. |
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| ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL |
| “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,385.01 points, up 1.77% from last week. This marked a 13-year high for the Greek stock market.” |
| “The initial public offering (IPO) of a 30% stake in Athens International Airport saw strong demand for the 90 million shares. Orders exceed 8.6 billion euros, with the offer priced at 8.20 euros a share. This is Greece’s largest IPO since the debt crisis.” |
| “The ongoing crisis in the Red Sea had directly impacted the container port of Piraeus, which has seen the number of containers handled drop by 30% compared to last year. This is because many ships are now choosing to sail around Africa.” |
| WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA |
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Editor's Pick It is evident that the tranquil skies and calm seas create favorable conditions for tourism, a factor taken seriously in the ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensionsStavros TzimasRead the article |
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| Kathimerini English Edition is published as a single paper with the International Edition of NYTime |
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