"Pravda Newspaper"
Russia can make Greece prospering state in one year
Two years ago, Greece missed the chance
to extricate from the crisis with Russia's help. Nowadays, Russian
investments in the country grow and give air to breathe to economies of
several regions of Greece, such as the north-east. Russian investors are
especially attracted by cheap real estate, tourism and the property
that they can buy from the state.
"Greece should only give Russia the
green light, and the Russian money will come," said Ivan Savvidi, a
businessman and the president of the Association of Greek Public
Organizations of Russia said. "If Greece asks Russian business, I can
tell you that by October next year, Greece will become a prosperous
country," the BBC quoted Savvidi, a former deputy of the Russian State Duma.
"Russia has never turned its back on Greece in a thousand years, and, of course, it will not now," the official said.
According to Savvidi, the Greek
government has once missed a historic opportunity to get out of the
crisis with Russia's help. "Two years ago, when George Papandreou
(former Prime Minister) met with Vladimir Putin, the Russian side was
ready to help, but Athens did not raise the issue," Savvidi said.
Why wasn't Greece ready? Prominent
German politician of the CDU, Armin Laschet, tried to answer this
question. According to him, Greece's exit from the euro zone "may lead
to instability in NATO member states. Russia is ready to help Greece
with its billions should the scenario continues to develop," Laschet
told Reuters. "There is much more at stake here than just a question of whether Greece meets the criteria of EU's bailout plan."
However, despite the absence of
political will on the part of Greece, Russian investments in the economy
of the crisis-stricken nation grow. First, it is tourism that Savvidi
called "the oil pipe of Greece." Eleftherios Meletlidis, a hotelier in
the area of Mount Athos, told the BBC that the number of
tourists in the region had increased tenfold since 2002. "The Russian
market is huge. The Russians practice Orthodoxy, they love Greece. The
proximity to Mount Athos is the key, as the Russians are very religious,
at a much greater extent than the Greeks."
According to Russia-Greece Chamber of
Commerce, tourists from Russia - 1.7 million people last year - leave a
lot of money in the country - about $ 2 billion. About 7 percent of
Russians come with a wish to buy real estate. For example, last year
there were 31,000 such transactions registered. "The Russians have a
strong interest in acquiring land, businesses and real estate," said
Grigoris Tassios, the chairman of the Association of Halkidiki Hotels in
the north of the country.
According to him, Russian entrepreneurs
have acquired eight hotels in four years. "But the Russians are tough
negotiators. They know that the market is depressed and therefore
request a 30 percent discount on everything that catches their
interest," he added.
It should be noted that the Greek real
estate market is not in the first priority of the Russians - it takes
only the 15th position. The second Greek-Russian forum on real estate,
which was held in Athens on October23-24, unveiled the following
numbers. Russians prefer to buy property in Italy (35 percent), Bulgaria
(15 percent), the U.S. (12 percent), Czech Republic (9 percent), Spain
(8 percent), Turkey (3 percent), Greek portal Imerisia.gr. wrote.
The President of the federation of
Russian brokerage firms, Anna Lupashko, reported that in Greece, Russian
customers look for real estate ranging from 100 to 200 thousand euros
for personal recreation. She described an average Russian investor. This
is a businessman aged 30-45, married, with children, concluding his or
her deal for the first time. He or she wants to spend around 150,000
dollars (56 percent). As many as 13.6 percent buy homes within 500,000
dollars in the countries such as the UK, Italy and France). They buy
mostly new apartments (55 percent), and are not interested in real
estate property under construction.
The Russians also look for a mild
climate (71 percent), friendly attitude of people (44 percent) and
investment opportunities (40 percent). All of this they can find in
Greece. In addition to tourism and real estate, the Russian business is
ready to invest in the infrastructure and industry of the country. To
implement the recommendations of the IMF, ECB and EU, the Greek
government widely privatizes state property in order to replenish its
liquidity. A Russian investor has bought a controlling stake in the
state-controlled Dodoni dairies and a port complex in Thessaloniki.
Gazprom is interested in buying DEPA gas company; Russian Railways
monopoly is interested in unprofitable Greek railways.
Despite Greece's membership in the EU
and NATO, the country's friendship with Russia has many years of fine
traditions. Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, a Greek diplomat and foreign
minister of the Tsarist Russia, was elected in 1827 the first President
of Greece (after the country became independence from the Ottoman
Empire).
During the Greek National Liberation
Revolution in 1821 - 1829 years, the "Russian party" that was
representing the Peloponnesian Greeks was primarily responsible for the
armed struggle against the Turks on land. Russia's influence has not
been lost in the areas where Russia was fighting against the Ottoman
Empire. This influence grows through investments from both private and
state Russian businesses and can be much bigger if the Greek government
has the political will for it.
Lyuba Lulko
Pravda.Ru
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