“The government has made a huge decision, for a giant interference with electricity, the largest ever in Europe. We can not take new measures every week. And with the electricity we exhausted all our marginsHe stressed Minister of Development Adonis Georgiadis.
“We fully recognize that there is a problem with fuel, not due to the government,” the minister said, noting that yesterday oil closed at $ 121, the highest oil price in the history of our country. according to him. “Yesterday we had the decision to impose a 90% embargo on Russian oil from the EU and we had the reopening of the Chinese market. That is, we had more demand and at the same time less supply. “We have a war in our neighborhood, is it possible for life to remain as it was before?” he said characteristically speaking to First Program.
Mr. Georgiadis clarified that by taking them out fuel taxes, we are in 12th-13th place in the price of gasoline in Europe. “With taxes we are in 4th place, but we have always been there, we have never been lower, we have had high fuel taxes since the 1990s, this is not new,” he added, acknowledging that in April fuel revenues were less than the goal.
In relation to whether one reduction of the excise tax on fuel would increase consumption and therefore state revenues, Mr. Georgiadis agreed that there is such a theory that stands seriously, but also expressed the strong contradiction that lies in the fact that because inflation is general and not only in fuel, incomes are under pressure. and so consumption will inevitably fall, so it is not certain that it will bring corresponding consumption. Fuel also has a big problem for the country, he added, because every oil we buy and natural gas we consume are written in our trade deficit because they are imported, so not only is the increase in consumption positive, it is also negative.
“The government is on top, if there is room we will definitely do something, but I am not one of the politicians who will tell children to go out and spend recklessly, because we did this in the past and it hurt us a lot, so we have to show ourselves, in our families, those around us and history that we can learn from the mistakes of the past “ stressed the Minister.
Responding to the journalists’ comment that on polls call for additional measures, he said “it is very reasonable and extremely legitimate for citizens to ask for help from the state at a time when there is this great difficulty. Whether there is room is not judged by a poll, it is judged by the competent staff of the Ministry of Finance and mainly by the markets. At the moment, the interest rate on the 10-year Greek bond is already quite high. Which means that the markets are worried, for the whole region, not only for Greece, but Greece has the very big problem of public debt that it carries from the past. “After the experience of 2010, we all know that a wrong move by a government which, for political reasons, gives the impression that it is ignoring the budget, ultimately results in great pain for the citizens, so we must all be very careful in this matter.”
Greece during the two years of the pandemic had a significantly larger deficit than the European average, added Mr. Georgiadis, “because we gave much more money as support to society than everyone else. Coming out of a 10-year crisis, both households and businesses had no fat to burn. We had to keep businesses and jobs alive, which was achieved. For the third year in a row, we cannot be in deficit above the European average. There will definitely be a problem, so we have to be very careful. “We are not going to endanger public finances because the consequences for our fellow citizens, and especially for the poorest of them, are tragic.”
Regarding the fight against notoriety, Mr. Georgiadis noted that the fuel chain has never before been so extensively controlled by any other minister. “We have inspected the entire chain, both refineries and transport services and service stations, and we are continuing the inspections. The refinery has not been released yet, I am waiting to find out too. They have been checking data since May 23. “If there is a finding that says that they have violated the profit margin that we had established, that is, the same margin that they had on September 1, 2021, they will also receive a fine like everyone else,” he pointed out.
In his critical opposition that the government avoids confronting the cartels, Mr. Georgiadis stressed “I am proud because in my day, the biggest fines for scandal that the Ministry of Commerce has ever imposed in the last 50 years have been imposed. I challenge Mr. Tsipras and any other SYRIZA MP to show me a corresponding fine or an inspection, even if it took place in a company in the days of Mr. Tsipras. “When, as a government, you have not imposed a single euro fine and we have already put 7 million for scandalous profits, most of which we have received, you should also have a contraction”.
Milder than 2020 this summer compared to Turkey
“Some challenges will be met, but my personal assessment is that they will be smaller by 2020,” said the Minister for Greek-Turkish relations and the scenario of tension that the neighbor seeks. “First, Greece is much stronger, we have 6 Rafals, for those who know what to say about our strength in the air, the difference is very big. Turkey currently has absolutely no aircraft that can be compared to Rafale, so it would not easily risk a collision. Secondly, the international environment is such that the whole international public opinion is very sensitive to what has to do with the violation of national sovereignty. In 2020 we had to explain to foreigners what was happening. Now all the networks will run here and all the governments will see what happens. “I do not believe that Erdogan will dare to do something extremely extreme, he will curse us, he will shout,” said Mr. Georgiadis.
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