Greek Ship Owners’ Response To FinMin
Greek FinMin’s invitation to ship owners to support the financial restructuring of the country has not surprised, but kind of bothered them.
Although the majority of Greek-owned fleet has not a Greek flag, or Greek ship-owners have no substantial activity in Greece, shipping contributes 6% in the country’s GDP.
There has been no official reaction from the union of Greek ship-owners, first because its board is abroad and second, it usually avoids confrontation.
Shipping sources told Capital.gr that Greek ship-owners would not refuse to help the country’s economy, but as the global economy is in crisis, any investments and contributions should be under a clear framework of initiatives and incentives.
They note that many times in the past shipping world responded positively to government’s request for support, but most of the ship-owners regretted it because of bureaucracy, inconsistency, etc.
They state that the last time the Greek government asked for investments in real estate, resulted in a tax of 15% in property, owned by offshore companies.
(capital.gr)