Monday's announcement by Canadian multinational Eldorado Gold that it was suspending operations in Greece because of regulatory hurdles was angrily by the leftist-rightist coalition in Athens, with the main opposition also targeted after it repeated charges of an "investor repellent" government.
Monday's announcement by Canadian multinational Eldorado Gold that it was suspending operations in Greece because of regulatory hurdles was angrily by the leftist-rightist coalition in Athens, with the main opposition also targeted after it repeated charges of an "investor repellent" government.
In fact, the Greek prime minister's office referred to an "orchestrated attempt by a panicked opposition to reverse the positive climate from a visit (last week) by French President Macron (to Greece) and the Prime Minister's address" at an annual trade exhibition in Thessaloniki over the weekend.
Sources affiliated to PM Alexis Tsipras' office blamed main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis for "encouraging and facilitating today reaction by the company".
The Maximos Mansion's annoyance was exacerbated by the timing of the Eldorado announcement, which came after Tsipras and his Cabinet members waged a public relations "offensive" over the past month to bolster the struggling government's "pro-investment" profile, complete with tours of private sector companies, appearances at business forums, ribbon-cutting ceremonies and a busy itinerary at the Thessaloniki trade exhibition over the weekend.
Mitsotakis' statement was particularly biting and generated the curt government reply.
"Within 24 hours Mr. Tsipras' announcements merely proved to be hot air. 1,200 employers of the Hellas Gold company are being led to the unemployment rolls. Just as many, which the company planned to hire, now lose their hope of gaining employment," Mitsotakis said.
He also charged that the previously anti-bailout SYRIZA has for years tried everything in its power to stop the Hellas Gold investment.
In an article coinciding the Eldorado announcement, Germany's Handelsblatt commented on Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' call over the weekend to foreign investors to sink their capital into still bailout-dependent Greece, which the former says is a "risky" prospect.
"...because foreign investors not only have to deal with bureaucracy's tentacles in Greece, they frequently come face-to-face with political resistance."
Instead of the problems faced by the Eldorado subsidiary in northern Greece, the German financial daily instead pointed to another delay-plagued major privatization, namely, the Helleniko real estate development project in coastal southeast Athens.
According to Handelsblatt, the Helleniko project is also on the verge of collapse. "As the head of the opposition (Alexis Tsipras) the current prime minister had doggedly fought against this specific investment.