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Greece this month In this issue: “Offshore Licensing Round 2014” Greek EU Presidency th 18 Economist Roundtable Greek Culture and the UK “Up Festival” in Koufonisia
EMBASSY OF GREECE Press & Communications Office 1A Holland Park, London W11 3TP Tel.: 020 77273071, Fax: 020 77278960 pressoffice@greekembassy.org.uk
“Greece Offshore Licensing Round 2014’’: Greek Hydrocarbons and Opportunities The Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Prof. Yannis Μaniatis and the Ambassador of Greece, Mr Konstantinos Bikas, organised the official pre-launch event for ‘Greece Offshore Licensing Round 2014’ which was held at the Hellenic Centre, on 1-2 July, in London. The event was supported by the Research Centre for Energy Management (RCEM) at ESCP Europe, Natural Gas Europe and the Greek Energy Forum, which is an exclusive group of energy professionals sharing common interest in the broader energy industry in Greece and Southeastern Europe. During his keynote address, Mr. Maniatis presented Greece's programme for offshore hydrocarbon
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exploration concessions in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete, discussed the findings of seismic surveys in the area under the broader geopolitical framework. Moreover, the presentation included data from geological surveys covering 225,000 square km and the interpretation of this data, carried out by the French oil and gas consultancy BEICIP-Franlab. Mrs Sofia Stamataki, Director of Laboratory of Applied Geophysics at the NTUA and specialist at the Ministry, explained the legal and financial framework that will govern the exploratory drilling. During his speech, Mr Maniatis cited five reasons that dictate the exploration and
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exploitation of this energy perspective: firstly the fact that, as he said, "the worst is behind us' referring to the economic crisis emphasising that Greece is facing a new page, after the six years of economic recession. Secondly, the politicians’ consensus, being in favour of the use of hydrocarbons, thirdly the social support which will greatly benefit from revenue management as provided strategic planning ministry. One important key reason is also the EU support as the Greek program is relevant for the European
energy security, and last but not least, the fact that Greece is gradually becoming "emerging energy hub." The participants came from different sectors such as management and subsea logistics specialists, auditors, managers of global supply chain in areas of agriculture, industry and energy products, oil exploration and oil companies focused on drilling, as well as legal finance, safety and security experts.
The end of the Greek EU Presidency: 181 Days at the steering wheel of Europe After six intense months, 57 ministerial meetings and 67 political agreements, the journey of the Greek Presidency came to an end. On Monday, June 30, Greece wrapped up its six-month chairmanship of the rotating EU Presidency. During its time in office, Greece managed to achieve a fiscal budget surplus, to strengthen the country’s position, to implement difficult and in some cases- ‘’painful’ structural reforms, and return to the international markets for the first time after six years of economic recession, via two successful bond sales, according to the views of the international experts and media. Addressing
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the event hosted at the Zappeion Conference Hall and attended by several Greek and foreign dignitaries on June 30, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras referred to the "impressive results reached", the main achievements of the Greek presidency, based on the priorities set out. In his speech, the Greek PM also promised that Greece will support neighbor Italy who takes over the EU presidency on July 1, to continue on the path paved during the first half of 2014. "Within a short period, in four instead of six months due to the elections for the European parliament, we completed 67 critical legislative initiatives and
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achieved consensus on another 15. And all these under a remarkably low budget, less of 40 percent of which was eventually spent,» Mr. Samaras said, pointing to some of the statistics of success of the Greek presidency. In a short review of the Greek presidency's achievements, he also stressed that over the past six months Greece and its European partners promoted policies and strategies to deepen the economic and banking union, as well as to address recession, unemployment and boost
competitiveness and growth across the continent. The image of the country during the six-month EU Presidency was even strengthened by its profile on the social media: The site especially launched for the Presidency (http://www.gr2014.eu/) was visited by more than 250.000 users, the twitter account (@Greek EU Presidency, @gr2014eu) gathered 13.000 followers, while the weekly newsletter reached 3.500 viewers.
18th Economist Roundtable: “The big rethink for Europe – The big turning point for Greece” (Athens 8-10 July) Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was the keynote speaker at the Economist 18th Roundtable Conference that was held in Athens on July 9-10. During the conference, Mr. Samaras stated that Greece’s exit from the crisis is based on four pillars: reforms, fiscal consolidation, growth, and security. He also noted that Greece went through the greatest fiscal adjustment in the shortest period of time, adding that that it was time to reinforce social cohesion without risking the target of the primary surplus that had been achieved. During his address at the conference, the Finance Minister, Mr. Gikas Hardouvelis stressed that the government will gradually abolish certain extraordinary tax measures and proceed with tax cuts, ‘as the Greek economy is reverting to normal’. Such comments are enhanced by Mr. Samaras’ statements about tax cuts in 2015 and the abolishment of certain tax
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measures that have not met their targets. According to the Head of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), Klaus Regling, "Greece is slowly but steadily becoming competitive again. Despite the very high unemployment rate in the country there is a slow reduction to it [and] investments and investors are returning to Greece. This is the way for the markets to regain their confidence in the Greek economy."
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Acropolis Museum ‘Brightens’ the Past The Acropolis Museum celebrated its fifth anniversary and decided to engage in an ambitious idea, ‘colouring in’ some of its key exhibits through digital technology. This initiative reminds to its public of its famous older project ‘Archaic Colours’ (31 July 2012- 31 July 2014), aimed at ‘restoring’ their colours of archaic statues to a small or large degree. ‘New technologies are increasingly finding their place in the museum, and now offer essential tools to aid the understanding of the great exhibits’, says the President of the Museum, Mr. Dimitrios Pandermalis. cientific studies have shown that colours found on ancient sculptures do not just play the role of decorative element, but they are enhancing the sculptures’ aesthetic quality. For ancient Greeks, colour was the means to demonstrate various attributes. The Acropolis Museum opened its doors for the first time in 2009, as ‘a modern showcase for the treasures of the Acropolis’. Since then more than 6.5 million people have visited the museum, amongst them over 170.000 were British citizens. The Parthenon Marbles have recently drawn much attention since the above initiative is said to bring Athens’s past back to life. As a result, the debate about the Elgin Marbles revived once again, as parts of Greece’s ancient world remain at the British Museum in London. Despite the fact that the Parthenon Marbles were -violentlytaken between 1801 and 1812 by the British collector of antiquities Lord Elgin, as Greece was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, today the Acropolis Museum is recognised as being amongst the three best museums world widely, with the calls for the Marbles’ return to Athens to have been intensified nowadays.
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Greek Culture “revived’’ in the UK Greek archaeology dominated the 2014 UK Festival of Archaeology held in July 12-27. More than 1.000 events took place during the festival, which managed to revive the ‘life as a Roman, Greek and Egyptian, [through] living history, warfare demonstrations, food tasting and mosaic making’. This year, the festival has brought a scent of Greece as the ‘Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology’, based at the University of Reading, participated in the Festival, presenting a Young Archaeologists and Greek Pots day on Saturday,
July 19. The Festival of Archaeology - coordinated by the Council for British Archaeology (CBA)- encourages everyone ‘to explore the archaeology of their local area, watch experts at work, and experience archaeology for themselves’. As far as the Greek culture is concerned, it is noteworthy that the ancient Greek theatre of Bradfield College in county of Berkshire reopens this summer, after the damages caused due to its 120 years of operation were restored.
“Ellada Pantou’’ Travels to Germany Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Greece, France, Sweden, Peru, Finland, Australia and Holland took part in the open festival ‘Ellada Pantou’. The festival that aims at promoting the Greek culture, goods and services, travels now to Germany. Between 25th September and the 5th November, the Festival ‘Ellada Pantou’ will go around several German cities, like Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, led by Grigoris Verroitis. In each
city, Mr. Verroitis will be launching a three day long radio programme, recording the new realities for the ‘diaspora’, chatting with the Greek and the Philhellenic communities, in an attempt to raise public awareness towards the common ties between the two nations, that of Greek and German, and explore the possibilities for cooperation at cultural activities, and social entrepreneurship.
All about Greece: A holiday reading guide Throughout the years hundreds of books have been written focusing on Greece, its history, landscapes and islands. Michael Kerr, in one of his articles on the Telegraph published on July 17, entitled; Books about Greece: holiday reading guide, recommends reading for visitors to Greece. Among the books suggested are; the single-volume primer A Concise History of Greece by Richard Clogg, The Hidden Centuries: Turkish Rule from the Fall of Constantinople to Greece Independence by David Brewer, Sofka Zinovieff’s The House of Paradise Street and
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Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens, The Flights of Ikaros by Kevin Andrews, Christopher Longue’s War Music, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, The Mangus by John Fowles, The Summer of My Greek Taverna: A memoir by Tom Stone and last but not least Little Families by Panos Karnezis
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Koufonisia: A Small Heaven on Earth You know you’ve escaped civilization when you’re swimming at sandy beaches that seem to be “unreal”. The British newspaper Daily Telegraph travelled to Koufonisia producing an up-to-date guide of the best places to visit, stay and eat. A special focus is given on the island’s beaches of Finikas, Fanos, Platia Pounta (also known as Italida) and the “lovely beach of Pori”. The article also provides a mini historic tour of the island and talks about the inhabited island of Keros, which is visible from Pori beach and was an important centre of Cycladic culture around 3,000-2,000 BC where Ancients performed religious activities as an annual summer archaeological dig, run by Cambridge University and the British School at Athens has revealed. Telegraph’s correspondent, Jane Foster, takes a pick of the inside track of Koufonisia, highlighting the “Up Festival” of contemporary Greek music that takes place every year since 2011 on one of the most beautiful beaches of the island, Pori. Combining the azure waters of Pori Beach at Upper Koufonisi and the summer feeling, “Up Festival” brings 3 days of pure Greek culture on 17-18-19 July. Singers and DJs fill the atmosphere with sounds and melodies of the authentic Greek experience. The scenery is magical, the entrance is free and the line-up of the performers is worth attending. This year the festival’s line-up included Pavlos Pavlidis, Burger Project and Leon of Athens amongst others.
Happy Summer Holidays! See you in September! 6 \