Local entrepreneurs said they were satisfied with the new support measures announced by the government on Thursday, but stress that they are not enough and that what matters most now is the reopening of the market as soon as possible.
“The extension and strengthening of the measures will undoubtedly provide respite for businesses and workers,” said Konstantinos Michalos, head of the Central Union of Chambers. “However, we will not stop advocating for coordinated action for a haircut on the debts created during the pandemic, and we also call on the government to review its policy regarding when and how the market will work again so that the normality be restored, ”he added.
“Any new support or improvement of the existing support framework for companies in difficulty can only be welcome. However, no single measure can replace the lost turnover for thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises which are literally on the verge of collapse, ”said Giorgos Karanikas, president of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship ( ESEE).
“With each passing day with the market closing, businesses and the economy are bleeding, arrears from the pandemic are growing and the hole in public finances is getting bigger,” Karanikas said.
The president of the Professional Chamber of Athens, Yiannis Hatzitheodosiou, pointed out that the market lost 7 billion euros due to the Christmas catering and retail lockdown and winter sales, adding that the measures are positive but not sufficient.
“The only realistic solution before the deadlock is created is a debt discount combined with a settlement in 120 installments for the payment of the rest of the contributions. I think it is time for the government to give it serious thought, ”Hatzitheodosiou said. “The longer we delay [the reopening] the more we, the entrepreneurs and the companies, we sink, and with us the economy does the same, increasing fears that after the pandemic we may have to revise upwards our estimate of 200,000 permanent closures ”, warns- he.
