ENGLISH EDITION

The entry of two giant Chinese banks in Greece is only a recent development and their presence remains discrete. But they have big plans for Greece as the country is part of the new Silk Road, placing the Mediterranean country within the strategic plans prepared by the Asian lenders. As of August 2018, Athens agreed with Beijing to participate in the new Belt and Road initiative even though Cosco had acquired the port of Piraeus much earlier.

While four real estate investment companies (REICs) are set to enter the Athens bourse with assets of more than 800 million euros, experts believe that due to positive momentum in the sector more REICs will be formed in Greece in 2020, with an emphasis on residential housing, as thousands of apartments will be taken over by funds and banks.

Speaking in Parliament, the Greek Finance minister made special mention to measures supporting the Greek society, focusing on the middle class and lower classes, such as a reduction in a special property tax, a new tax legislation, a heating subsidy, expanding the tax base, etc.

The construction of apartments on the Hellinikon complex will add enormous value to the project, as outlined by Lamda Development in its prospectus for the company's upcoming 650 million euro rights issue. The company plans to build 10,800 apartments at Hellinikon with an average size of 110 square meters each.

The decision, to be activated on January 1, 2020, will mean that "short-term export credit risks towards Greece will be considered as marketable to be covered by private insurers," the European Commission said in an announcement.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG on Tuesday announced the start of operations of a 2 km section of the pipeline in Greece between the Evros river and the Kipoi compressor station.

Greece is revising the way it plans to develop the country's regional ports in order to pave the way for new deals in the sector as of next year. The Shipping Ministry is working on a series of initiatives to modernize, privatize and develop ports in a way that will provide maximum benefit to the Greek economy and local communities.

Piraeus Bank Group on Friday reported pre-tax profit of 146 million euros in the January-September period, with net profit of 87 million euros in the nine-month period from a loss of 304 million last year.

In Greece's Enhanced Surveillance Report, the European Commission said that net fee and commission income accounts for 14.6 percent of operating income for Greek banks, versus a euro area average of 30 percent, as of end June 2019. This is posing a risk to their financial health. 

Eurobank Group on Thursday said its consolidated net profits totaled 149 million euros in the January-September period. Eurobank’s performance in the nine months of 2019 was positive. Net profit at a Group level reached 149 million euros. Net interest income receded by 3.0% to 1,031 million euros, but was up by 1.1% (quarterly) to 346 million.