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Ad. Georgiadis to be precise: With the current we have exhausted our margins

“The government has made a huge decision, for a giant intervention in the electricity, the largest that has been done in all of Europe. We can not take new measures every week. And with the electricity we have exhausted all our margins,” he stressed speaking in the First Program 91.6 and 105.8 the Minister of Development and Investment, Adonis Georgiadis.

“We fully acknowledge that there is a problem with fuel, not due to the government,” he said. embargo on Russian oil to 90% from the EU and we also 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.

Mr. Georgiadis clarified that by removing taxes from fuel, 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 a 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 have done this in the past and it hurt us a lot, so we have to show ourselves, in “Our families, those around us and in history that we can learn from the mistakes of the past,” the minister stressed.

Responding to the journalists’ comment that in the polls the citizens ask for additional measures, he stated “it is very reasonable and extremely legitimate for the citizens to ask for help from the state at this time of great difficulty. Whether there is room is not judged by a poll, The interest rate of the 10-year Greek bond is already quite high, which means that the markets are concerned, for the whole region, not only for Greece, but Greece has After the experience of 2010 we all know that a wrong move by a government which for political reasons gives the impression that it ignores the budget ultimately results in a great deal of pain for the citizens, so in we must all be very careful about that. ”

Greece during the two years of the pandemic had a significantly larger deficit than the European average, Mr. Georgiadis added, “because we gave much more money to society than anyone else. Coming out of a 10-year crisis, both households and businesses do not We had to keep businesses and jobs alive, which was achieved. We can not be in deficit above the European average for the third year in a row. There will definitely be a problem, so we have to be very careful. “to put public finances at risk because the consequences for our fellow citizens, and especially for the poorest of them, are tragic.”

Checks on the liquid fuel chain continue

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 checked the whole chain, both the refineries and the transport services and the service stations and we are continuing the inspections. The refineries have not come out yet, I am waiting to find out too. “A finding that says they have violated the profit margin we had established, that is, the same margin they had on September 1, 2021, they will also receive a fine like everyone else,” he said.

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. Tsipras and any other SYRIZA MP to show me a corresponding fine or an audit even if it was done in a company in the days of Mr. Tsipras. , most of which we have received, to have a contraction “.

Greek-Turkish relations

“Some challenges will be encountered, but my personal assessment is that they will be smaller by 2020,” said the minister for Greek-Turkish relations and the tension scene sought by the neighbor. “First of all, 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. At the moment, Turkey has absolutely no aircraft that can be compared to the Rafals. 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. “I do not believe that Erdogan will dare something extremely extreme, he will curse us, he will shout,” said Mr. Georgiadis.

Source: Capital

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