Brussels, 07/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 7 April, the European Commission announced that contact between Greece and the institutions (Commission, ECB and IMF) had continued over the weekend and that it was now “the Greeks' turn to take a step”, according to Alexander Winterstein, a spokesperson of the European institution.
By the looks of things, the list of reforms submitted by the Greek government on Wednesday of last week does not seem to be enough for the institutions. Firstly, because it is not reported to make any new contribution to the discussions underway within the 'Brussels group', the forum in which the negotiations on the content of the reforms are being held. Secondly, some of the estimated revenue appears overly optimistic and, finally, as was also the case last time, some of the measures are clearly a step in the wrong direction. This is the case with a number of specific provisions on tackling the humanitarian crisis, which apparently fails to target the most vulnerable groups and could even open the door to abuse. It is also the case with the payment plan to allow taxpayers to pay back their tax debts without penalties and excessively clement leadtimes, which would also be available to the wealthiest individuals.
On Tuesday 7 April, the Greek Ministry of Finance issued a press release in which it states that the IMF was prepared to show flexibility on the way in which the proposed reforms are assessed. On Sunday, the Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, met the director general of the Washington-based institution, Christine Lagarde, and guaranteed that Greece would honour its forthcoming payment of €450 million on 9 April, whilst a member of the government intimated last week that the reverse could be possible. Lagarde welcomed this confirmation.
At an ordinary meeting, the national experts of the Euro working group will once again take stock of the situation this Wednesday. Greece is hoping for a “preliminary conclusion” of the talks on the reforms with its creditors by 24 April, when the Eurogroup meets in Riga, Yanis Varoufakis told the daily newspaper Naftemporiki. Nobody really seems to know with any certainty when Greece will run short of cash. According to reports in the Greek press, the government has already used €1.9 billion of the Treasury reserves of various government entities to pay salaries and pensions and honour its repayments.
The Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, will be in Moscow this Wednesday, where he will meet President Vladimir Putin. According to The Guardian, the parties may sign a three-year action plan in the fields of the economy, trade, research and technology. According to Bloomberg, quoting Russian officials, Moscow has no plans to grant Greece a loan.
According to the Russian press agency RIA Novosti, a Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Tuesday, commenting on Tsipras' visit, that there was no need to “limit everything to credit and financial issues; Russian-Greek relations are quite multifaceted”.
The Greek government also announced over the weekend that it had put a figure on the amount of war compensation it feels it is owed by Germany. Addressing a national parliamentary committee, the deputy Finance Minister, Dimitris Mardas, said that Germany owed Athens €278.7 billion, which equates to more than the loans received by Greece in the framework of the international financial assistance. Germany has said on a number of occasions that the subject was closed. (Elodie Lamer)