Ostrich tactics and large energy investments Turkey’s pace of appeasement, with the constant disregard of the neighboring country’s provocative movements, will cost the major energy investments Greece plans point to several analysts, based on recent developments in Syria. Ankara appears to discuss a new memorandum, in accordance with the model of the 2019 Turkish memorandum on joint development of EEZs with Syria aiming to seize part of the current Cypriot AEZ! At the same time Greece is unable to defend even the agreements with Egypt with which it agreed to declare an AEZ division in August 2020, as is apparent from the recent incident in Kasos, when Turkish ships blocked investigations into the Greek-Cyprus cable. But also south of Crete despite positive estimates for possible quantities of natural gas, there was no new round of concessions for sea areas for research. As for the two ‘fields’ granted to the ExxonMobil – Hellenicniq Energy consortium, the progress recorded is not in any way linked to the Prime Minister’s three-year announcements to speed up investigations. Now that developments in Syria are taking hold of another provocative initiative by Turkey, must Greece move diplomatically? It’s never late! The promises of a European counterattack! The death of former Prime Minister Costas Simitis again brought to light the debate on Greece’s position in Europe, but also the topical debate on how the EU will respond to President Donald Trump’s actions, which threatens a duty war, and China’s new initiatives. The EU has been in a position of defence in recent years, whether it is geopolitical unrest, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or economic upheavals, such as the complete prevalence of Chinese people in electric cars. The President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leien is committed that within the first 100 days of the new Commission’s operation she will respond to the proposals contained in the reports of the former Italian prime ministers Leta and Dragi for the future of the EU. Political developments in Germany and France do not favour Von der Leien. But the need for a European counter-attack is immediate, as the unpleasant situation of the German industry shows, the constant reactions in Europe to energy costs, the constant slippage of Europe in areas such as artificial intelligence. Those who fear the cost of these changes and wonder “where the money will be found” should bear in mind that delays will simply increase that cost! The “Coupling II” that Elon Musk never finished! The Greek state is in the courts with the contractors of the famous “Cozyxis II” project to upgrade the telecommunications infrastructure and services of the state. The project was never completed in its entirety, despite continued extensions with public and contractors trying to figure it out in court after heavy clauses have been imposed on IT and telecommunications companies. In Italy, the Meloni government was treated as following another path, but the information that Bloomberg broadcast was refuted. According to the reports, the Italian government was in advanced negotiations with the SpaceX of Elon Musk to sign a five-year agreement providing safe telecommunications services for state bodies. The total amount of the deal would reach 1.5 billion euros and Georgia Meloni’s meeting with Donald Trump on the weekend in Florida needed to overcome some obstacles. The Italian government denied it. The new Hilton and the adventures of Andreades Stratis Andreadis, the businessman who made Hilton, writes in his autobiography entitled “The Professor”: “End of 1962, because of Hilton, I suddenly fell ill with overwork. I had a heart attack and was required to stay inactive for several days, under the immediate supervision of the doctor.” Andreades, who had taken the contract for the construction of “Hilton Athens” in the early 1960s, passed through fire and iron until he completed the project, with assistance from the German Siemens (he took over electromechanicals) and Hochtief (constructed the building). Just before the work was delivered, on the day of St. Nicholas’ 1962, Hilton caught fire, fortunately limited. Finally the opening took place in the spring of 1963. Almost sixty years later, the Constantakopoulos group is preparing to deliver, within 2025, the new band, “The Ilisian” as it will be called, combining tourism with the residence and operating under two other brands of the Hilton group, Conrad and Waldorf Astoria Residences. As in the case of Stratis Andreas, it will take a struggle to complete the demanding work. Tatoi, Greek and other works The new year will be full of developments in many iconic works scheduled to be delivered within the next 12 months. Another example is the summer palace in Tatoi as well as other infrastructure on the former royal estate that modern Greece let go of. With interest the column also notices the progress in the huge construction site of the Greek one, since during this year we must, based on the planning of Lamda Development, see bulldozers in new buildings, such as the malls and the Metropolitan Park. We will also see serious progress in residential development based on the agreements Lamda signed in the year that has passed. We also expect new agreements, such as the Egyptian Crusoe Nagib Sauiris, which has been rumored for months to be placed with a remarkable investment for a residential complex in Greece. In Athens this year we will see that other works such as the new MINION, the upgrading of the Arsakio, etc. are completed or reached its end. The port of Lobster and the investments that haunt! Since then the powerful contractor Christos Arfanis of the METON-TEP Group acquired the port of Astakos until today that the property is controlled by Alpha Bank, thousands of words have been written for investments starting from a freight centre and end up in a complex of luxurious marina houses. But nothing moves, although plans are presented. Finally, the latest plan of Greek-Arab interests for luxury marinas and residences seems to be moving at a much lower speed than expected. Some would expect investors to be lured by the saturation recorded at the Ionian Islands to be placed on the other side of the Ionian Sea. Let’s see. They do not hide interest in the 22 small regional airports the Germans may be in the heart of winter, but the Germans think summer in Greece and its airports. The German Fraport already controls the 14 largest regional airports in our country. With an extensive article yesterday by Handelsblatt, she mentions the fact that Greece “must expand their airports”, as “in many places, the possibilities have already been exhausted”. The report points out that “the state investment fund is preparing to award operating concessions for the remaining 22 Greek airports. These are smaller regional airports currently operated by the state. Some of them, such as the island airports of Paros, Syros, Naxos, Milos and Chios, have significant tourist potential. Because more and more visitors avoid overcrowded destinations, there is a trend in Greece towards holiday areas that were formerly less frequent. The tender for concessions, to be awarded as a package to an operator, is expected to take place in the coming months. The aim is to deliver airports to the new operator this year. This would mean that all 38 Greek commercial airports would be privatised.” The low participation of 35-year-olds in TEKA and the objective of increasing ‘national savings’ Too low was the participation of 35-year-olds in the ASI (TEKA) according to what the column learns. The deadline for voluntary registration in TEKA expired on 31 December 2024 and even though an additional year had been granted in relation to the initial provisions of the law, those born after 1 January 1987, in no case did this extension contribute to the creation of a ‘wave’ transition from the subsidiary insurance sector of the public limited liability company to the public limited liability company as well. There are no official estimates for the (let us be honest) massive refusal of 35-year-olds to switch from EPKA to TEKA, despite institutional guarantees for the safety of individual co-workers in TEKA and the provision for higher supplementary pensions in the future. Unofficially, some officials say that there has never been a proper campaign to inform potential TCA insured people in order to convince them to register in mass. Thus, the TIF will be deprived of additional funds that could be invested (when its new investment strategy, which is already measuring large delays), ensuring (always according to government forecasts) not only higher pensions but also greater liquidity in the capital markets (with the aim of increasing ‘national savings’! ) and thus to Greek companies and even to times that are difficult (in terms of liquidity).
The ostrich’s tactics cost energy investment promises Von der Leien for European recomposition of “Coupling II” and Musk the new Hilton and the other iconic works of 2025
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