Posted on 04/03/2013 10:26:22 AM PDT by Lorianne
At least 1,600 Greek businesses - from shipping, retail to tourism - will suffer from the Cyprus bailout deal announced on Sunday after a showdown between Brussels and Nicosia, according to Vasilis Korkidis, head of the National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE).
“The tragic situation in Cyprus will certainly have immediate effects on the Greek market, since a large part of the domestic businesses maintain close ties with Cypriot companies,” Korkidis said in a statement on Tuesday. He was particularly critical of the capital controls and the impending haircut on large deposits (over 100,000 euros) expected to be more than 40%.
Greece's exports to Cyprus exceed 1bn euros annually and the country is Cyprus’ biggest trade partner, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany.
According to Korkidis, the Eurogroup’s Cyprus deal establishes new, severely punitive rules for countries needing emergency aid in the future.
He also slammed the Eurogroup deal (which he called the "German plan" to stress the key role played by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the negotiations) for “crippling” Cyprus. He said the deal is “tragic” because it “sentences” Cyprus - the country’s markets and economy - to a long period of recession and debt.
Many of them probably shifted money to Cyprus banks after the Greek default and haircuts.
...and during and before the Greek defaults.
The picture for Greece never seems to improve. The only winner in all this is Turkey - there is a shift in the whole region toward their advantage.
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