Zero Hedge — Why Greek Shipping Billionaires Are Sweating

Ironically, Greek shippers knew which way the wind is blowing, and last October the Union of Greek Shipowners reached a voluntary agreement with the previous government to double the tax paid by the industry in the three years from 2014.

Whether that will be enough for the country’s new anti-austerity Syriza-led government isn’t clear. In a February letter to creditor institutions, Greece Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the new regime will “ensure that all sections of society, and especially the well-off, contribute fairly to the financing of public policies,” as part of reforms that secured the continued availability of bailout funds for Europe’s most indebted country. 

To answer Bloomberg's question, no - it will not be enough. But here Varoufakis will have to make a difficult decision: 

“Shipping together with tourism are the two main sources of income for the country,” said Eurofin’s Zolotas. “The government would be ill-advised to make it less attractive for ship owners to remain in Greece because ship owners are providers of a lot of employment.”

Zero Hedge
Why Greek Shipping Billionaires Are Sweating
Tyler Durden