Greece’s new government considered a tax on shipping as part of its efforts to survive the eurozone crisis, but rejected the idea, despite its widespread popularity, the politician whose brief covers the industry has revealed, ifw-net reports.
The recently-appointed coalition administration of technocrat Lucas Papademos will, instead, encourage shipowners to expand their current €7bn (US$9.4bn) annual contribution to the national economy by increasing the size of the fleet under the Greek flag.
Adonis Georgiadis, who was in London this week for the International Maritime Organisation assembly, serves as Deputy Minister for development, competitiveness and shipping.
While he accepted that economic turbulence could not but have an impact on Greek shipping, he nevertheless was confident that the need of world trade for shipping services would enable the sector to haul through.
Nor did he agree with the suggestion that Greek owners would have difficulty in raising finance, even if Greek banks shut the doors to new loans.
“They are good clients of the banks, and they are still, in most cases, OK with their loans. Greek banks have problems, but not from shipowners,” he insisted.
He said practical steps would be taken to grow the Greek fleet, for example through permission to use armed guards in piracy-prone waters, which would put it on a level playing field with its rivals. There could also be an increased emphasis on seafarer training.
In a report in IFW’s sister publication, Lloyd’s List, Georgiadis admitted there was a popular clamour for shipowners to pay their way.
“Many times, television and newspaper journalists say the things that most people want to hear, especially in a period when people are anxious and furious. The truth is, Greek shipowners already put a lot of money into the Greek economy. And they want to help even more.”
Georgiadis gave a firm commitment not to tax shipping. He said: “I can offer this guarantee, because this is something we have discussed already in cabinet, and it is our new government’s policy to help Greek shipowners help our economy. No more taxes for Greek shipowners, you can be sure about that.”
But he added that there would be no let-up in plans to privatise the country’s ports and shipyards.
While there was pressure for a quick sale, assets would be priced realistically and not sold for an unnecessarily low return simply to get them off the books as soon as possible, he said.
The recently-appointed coalition administration of technocrat Lucas Papademos will, instead, encourage shipowners to expand their current €7bn (US$9.4bn) annual contribution to the national economy by increasing the size of the fleet under the Greek flag.
Adonis Georgiadis, who was in London this week for the International Maritime Organisation assembly, serves as Deputy Minister for development, competitiveness and shipping.
While he accepted that economic turbulence could not but have an impact on Greek shipping, he nevertheless was confident that the need of world trade for shipping services would enable the sector to haul through.
Nor did he agree with the suggestion that Greek owners would have difficulty in raising finance, even if Greek banks shut the doors to new loans.
“They are good clients of the banks, and they are still, in most cases, OK with their loans. Greek banks have problems, but not from shipowners,” he insisted.
He said practical steps would be taken to grow the Greek fleet, for example through permission to use armed guards in piracy-prone waters, which would put it on a level playing field with its rivals. There could also be an increased emphasis on seafarer training.
In a report in IFW’s sister publication, Lloyd’s List, Georgiadis admitted there was a popular clamour for shipowners to pay their way.
“Many times, television and newspaper journalists say the things that most people want to hear, especially in a period when people are anxious and furious. The truth is, Greek shipowners already put a lot of money into the Greek economy. And they want to help even more.”
Georgiadis gave a firm commitment not to tax shipping. He said: “I can offer this guarantee, because this is something we have discussed already in cabinet, and it is our new government’s policy to help Greek shipowners help our economy. No more taxes for Greek shipowners, you can be sure about that.”
But he added that there would be no let-up in plans to privatise the country’s ports and shipyards.
While there was pressure for a quick sale, assets would be priced realistically and not sold for an unnecessarily low return simply to get them off the books as soon as possible, he said.