Russia's increasing finacial investment in Greece...
Another interesting BBC article...
Earlier this month a Greek-origin Russian businessman, Ivan Savvidi, claimed that Greece only had to give the green light and Russian money would come pouring in.
"If Greece asks the Russian business community then I can tell you that by October next year Greece will have become a prosperous country," he said. "Russia has not turned its back on Greece in a thousand years - it certainly will not now."
He was previously a deputy in Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in the dominant party - President Vladimir Putin's United Russia.
In August Mr Savvidi became the majority shareholder in PAOK FC, Thessaloniki's top football club and a power in the Greek league, but beset by financial woes until he came along.
Russian investment in northern Greece, and particularly Halkidiki, is providing some comfort for a region devastated by the economic crisis. The investments range from luxurious villas and more modest holiday homes to hotels, dairies, ports and energy infrastructure.
Gregoris Tassios, chairman of Halkidiki's Hotel Association, says "there is great interest from Russia for the purchase of land, businesses, summer houses and hotels, and tourist numbers are rapidly rising".
Since 2008, eight hotels in Halkidiki have been acquired by Russian interests and Greek-Russian joint ventures.
According to the Hellenic-Russian Chamber of Commerce, 7% of the Russian tourists visiting Greece are interested in buying a holiday home, which translates into 31,000 sales annually.
Russian tourism to Halkidiki is second only to the Germans, whereas only five years ago the Russians were in fifth place.Mr Tassios says that "Orthodoxy and Mount Athos, the historic bonds between the two countries, the proximity of Thessaloniki and the long presence of Pontic Greeks in Russia are all contributing to this trend".
But Russians are tough negotiators, he adds. "They know the market is depressed and therefore ask for discounts of 30% on everything that attracts their interest."
Mount Athos is a major attraction for Russians. This monastic, male-only community is one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a pilgrimage there in 2005.
Eleftherios Meletlidis, a hotelier near Mount Athos, says Russian visitors have increased ten-fold since 2002.
"The Russian market is huge. They are Orthodox, they love Greece. The proximity to Mount Athos is key, since Russians are very devout, much more so than Greeks," he says.
Besides tourism, Russians were the preferred buyers of a majority stake in the state-controlled dairy Dodoni. Russian energy giants are interested in the Greek natural gas company and there is said to be Russian interest in the port of Thessaloniki and Greece's loss-making railways.SourceAccording to Mr Savvidi - who is a friend of President Putin - Greece missed an historic opportunity, when the crisis erupted, to strike a better rescue deal than the one it now has with the troika of lenders - the EU Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.
"Two years ago, when [then Greek PM] George Papandreou met Vladimir Putin, the Russian side was ready to help; but Athens did not raise the issue", he said.
He believes that Russian help would have spared Greece its "loss of freedom and sovereignty". He is however hopeful that the new government will prove keener to build a closer relationship with Moscow.
"The crucial issue is not to waste any more time. I am positive that Russia will not sit idly by. I'm doing all I can to support my ancestral land."
Despite Greece's membership of the EU and Nato, its friendship with Russia goes back a long way.
Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, a Greek diplomat who served as imperial Russia's foreign minister, was elected in 1827 as Greece's first governor following independence from the Ottoman Empire.
During the independence war and nation-building, the aptly named "Russian party" was also one of the nascent nation's major political forces.
Where once Russia schemed to undermine the Ottoman Turks, its influence now spreads more through business deals.
I cannot describe how I feel after reading this article... Yes I know the situation in Greece is tough and any sore of financial investment is quite desirable, but on the other hand we also know that Russia, historically, would use anything to further its diplomat goal - economic domination, military domination... etc, it is quite clear that Russia's motivation in its investment in Greece probably is not just for economic reasons but has some other long regional plan that would further Russia's goal, and it is difficult to say what would happen if a pro-Russia country is guarding the mouth of Black Sea...
Originally Posted by Markas
Reply With Quote
So what is the solution? become a terrorist? 
. The bad thing is we arent Island that can inflate their own coin to make the economy more stable, we cant do that to the Euro naturaly my guess, is the bigger economies will continue to finance our country like we were a region of Europe and not an independent state. In Island they refused to pay the bailout to the Britsh and to the ducth, until now they didnt payed a penny 
the Britsh and ducth goverments, were able to save the banks, but if im not mistaken island was flaged as terrorist state not long ago 
