“I wish we did not take any measures. But if we do not put any measures on you, we will not do any control in the end. What is my goal as Minister of Commerce? To celebrate with open shops. “In order to do that, we must stop the rise of the pandemic.”
This was stated by the Minister of Development and Investment, Adonis Georgiadis, in the discussion he had with the catering entrepreneurs who had gathered this morning in Syntagma, in the context of the 24-hour strike mobilization of the sector.
The minister wrote on social media: “Today I went down and had a dialogue with the gathered representatives of the restaurant in Syntagma … When there is a good mood and good faith, everything is resolved”.
In the meeting with the businessmen and responding to their protests for the measures which, as they said, have led to a reduction in the turnover and regarding the high fines, the minister stressed that in Greece a milder model of dealing with the unvaccinated with a “passport” is followed. for focus, ie rapid tests, at a time when more and more countries in the European Union are excluding them.
“We are one of the mild ones,” he said characteristically.
Regarding the controls that the shopkeepers must do, Mr. Georgiadis said that they are necessary because without them, the violations will increase. If that happens, he said, the pandemic will increase, and if it does, we will have to take worse action, he said.
“It all makes sense for the virus to fall. “We are all a tool in dealing with the pandemic,” he added.
Answering questions about the financial support of companies, Mr. Georgiadis noted that “for the support of companies in the sector we will pay a total of 296 million euros. It is not that we have not given, to be fair “while in statements that were made to him that many did not receive help, the minister clarified that the conditions were set by the European Union and the approvals are made by an electronic system which is inviolable.
The representatives of the businessmen of catering and related professions, after the gathering in Syntagma Square, visited the Maximos Palace where they handed over a resolution of protest against the government measures that affect the industry.
The resolution underlines that: “the measures announced are ineffective, costly, inapplicable and punitive. These are measures that pass on to the professional obligations of the State, assigning us responsibilities that do not belong to us and bring us into unjustified friction with our customers (certificate verification, identity etc). “These are measures that reduce our potential clientele by as much as 50%, dramatically shrinking our turnover, exacerbating the problem of sustainability that catering businesses face with dramatic job implications.”
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Meanwhile, according to industry data, the current strike in the restaurant is considered successful.
According to an announcement by the Panhellenic Federation of Restaurant and Related Professions (POESE), the participation of professionals ranged over 90%, with some areas of Greece reaching 100%.
In a statement, the president of POESE, George Kavvathas, states: “From our daily experience and contact with hundreds of thousands of professionals and customers, the measures announced are ineffective, costly, inapplicable and punitive. These are measures that pass on to the professional obligations of the State, assigning us responsibilities that do not belong to us and bring us into unjustified friction with our customers (certificate verification, identity etc). These are measures that reduce our potential clientele by as much as 50%, dramatically shrinking our turnover, exacerbating the problem of sustainability that catering businesses face with dramatic job implications. The damage suffered by the catering sector has not been suffered by any other sector of the Greek economy, as the turnover during the period when the sector was closed can in no case be replenished. It is a lost turnover. In addition, companies already have a 40% -50% reduction in turnover from the first ten days of implementation of the new measures.
Reduction of turnover
An announcement of the industry states the following: Since the outbreak of the crisis, the industry of catering and related professions, has contributed with all its might to the titanic effort to deal with the coronavirus, with great damage. It is indicative that the turnover of the sector in 2020 recorded a decrease compared to 2019 of 37.2% and continues to record losses both compared to the quarters of the previous year and compared to the pre-pandemic quarters. In fact, in the first half of 2020, 85.7% of the catering companies had declared a decrease in their turnover with the average reduction of the turnover for these companies reaching 60.1%. In the second half of 2020, 77.9% of catering companies reported a decrease in turnover with the average reduction in turnover reaching 59.4%. While in the first half of 2021 68% of catering companies reported a decrease in turnover with an average reduction of turnover for businesses to 51.8%. These data show that the majority of small and very small catering businesses and related occupations throughout the pandemic recorded very high turnover rates. At the same time, the overdue debts of catering companies increased significantly during the pandemic and according to the latest research of FHW GSEVEE (July 2021) the largest percentages of companies with overdue debts are recorded in the categories of insurance contributions to the former OAEO. . In fact, one in two companies in the sector (48.5%) “lives” with the fear of the final padlock with all that entails the loss of jobs. Given this, and despite the fact that the industry overwhelmingly adhered to the measures announced by the government, it was once again called upon to burden itself with new measures which are a bomb for the viability of the whole industry with which also implies for jobs as a scraping of the expected padlocks.
In the face of this difficult reality that has taken shape, we claim:
-Adjustment (reduction) of fines.
Conversion of refundable advances into NON-refundable.
– Participation in the competent advisory committees before taking decisions.
-Subsidy of energy costs and rent.
-Subsidizing employer contributions or suspension of employment contracts.
Exemption from the payment of municipal fees.
-Reduction of VAT to 6%.
-Continuation of the subsidy of loan installments.
-New funding similar to those of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
In addition, we call for the government to take structural measures, namely:
– The establishment of a Special Secretariat or Catering Chamber.
-The solution of labor costs with special regulations in distortions of labor legislation that do not take into account the high intensity of additional costs of the sector (night, evening, holidays, weekends) and its uniqueness, in all jobs.
-The rationalization of the sector with structural changes.
Finally, the statement of POESE concludes: “After the meeting with the Deputy Minister to Prime Minister Giannis Oikonomou, the government received the message of unprecedented mobilization throughout the country, also received the message that a constructive communication channel should be opened to resolve the industry problems and measures for structural change at no budgetary cost “.
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