On Wednesday 5 July, the Governing Council of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) postponed the payment of the tranche of aid of €8.5 billion to Greece in the framework of the finalisation of the second monitoring mission of the third bailout plan.
The Governing Council, which is made up of the Eurozone finance ministers, has made the payment of the aid conditional on a decision of the Greek authorities regarding the fate of three former experts of the investment fund TAIPED (Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund). These individuals (a Spanish, an Italian and a Slovak national) are suspected of losing the Greek state several million euro in the framework of an operation to sell off public assets (see EUROPE 11810).
Although a prosecutor of the Greek Supreme Court cancelled proceedings against them on 29 June of this year, in particular under pressure from the Spanish minister of the economy, Luis de Guindos, the Eurozone finance ministers urge the Greek government to rapidly resolve the outstanding problems, which would open the door to the approval of the third tranche of financial aid to Greece from the ESM in the amount of €8.5 billion, under the agreement reached at the Eurogroup meeting on 15 June.
A meeting of the Governing Council of the ESM has therefore been rescheduled for Friday 7 July and may end in the disbursement of this sum, which would allow Greece to cover a reimbursement peak of €7 billion to the European Central Bank (ECB) over the course of the month of July. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)