Greece's Alpha Bank SA has launched a process to sell Athens-listed Ionian Hotel Enterprises, owner of the five-star Hilton Athens, a source familiar with the matter said.

Alpha Bank, which holds 97.3 percent of IHE, wants to receive expressions of interest by a deadline of March 11. Citi is advising Alpha Bank on the sale, the source said.

Alpha Bank was not immediately available for comment.

The Greek bank is aiming to further strengthen its capital base with the share sale, which is valued at about 106 million euros based on its last closing price of 8.13 euros.

Greek banks that have been recently recapitalized with the euro zone's help have agreed to divest non-core banking activities and sell their participation in overseas assets.

Citi's head of Greece and Cyprus investment banking, Theodoros Giatrakos, is leading negotiations with interested parties, which have been given the option of bidding alone or teaming up in an investment consortium.

Hilton Athens was one of the venues that hosted recent negotiations between international creditors and the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in 2015.

To read more, please visit: Ekathimerini

Cremation of the dead is now legal in Greece, despite strong opposition from the Orthodox Church. The law on cremation was officially published in the Government Gazette.

The Church of Greece prohibits cremation. However, the bill that was passed in parliament mid-February provides that the choice of burial rites is every person’s right.

The law provides that any person can freely declare before a notary the type of funeral ceremony and the place of burial. With the notarized declaration of the person who wishes to be cremated, relatives and friends can grant his or her wish.

The law also says that if the wish of the deceased is not contrary to public policy, health regulations or moral traditions, the persons or services that have undertaken the burial of the deceased have to comply to the deceased’s wish.

To read more, please visit: Greek Reporter

In September 2012 two friends meet up on the rooftop of a building in New York. Panagiotis Madamopoulos-Moraris is in town for business and Nikos Koumettis is an already successful senior executive at The Coca-Cola Company. They are discussing the difficult circumstances in Greece and the high number of Greek scientists looking for work in the US. The two friends decide to do something to stop the brain drain in Greece. This is how ReGeneration was born – an initiative that aims to become the catalyst of internship culture in Greece.

ReGeneration is an initiative of the Global Shapers Athens Hub, a program of the World Economic Forum. As Spiros Milonas, ReGeneration’s project manager, explained, “Our aim is to give high-caliber young graduates with little or no work experience the opportunity to kick-start their career at a company in Greece, and in a job relevant to their studies and in a position that fits their personality.”

Designed by experts in human resources management, the program assists participants in discovering their capabilities and career path by combining academic background and talent through five stages. “This is how companies that participate in the program recruit the best minds and those who will evolve into the ideal business partner,” said Madamopoulos-Moraris, first curator of the Global Shapers Athens Hub.

ReGeneration is funded by The Hellenic Initiative (THI) and The Coca-Cola Company. The program’s success after just two years validates the “experiment,” Michael Printzos, program director at THI, told Kathimerini. He said that during 2014, the program’s first year, some 3,000 applications were received for positions at 21 participating companies, both Greek and multinational. A total of 55 paid internship positions were created and filled thanks to the program, and, at the end of the internship period, 80 percent of the interns renewed their contracts.

To read more, please visit: eKathimerini

During the 2016 Greek-Russian initiative, dedicated to the promotion of Greece to the Russian public and of Russia to the Greek public, Athens and Moscow are planning a series of cultural events aiming at 'renewing the traditional bonds of friendship and enhancing awareness and cooperation,' as described in a statement made by the ministry.

As part of the exchange program, the Acropolis museum will exhibit three golden objects from the Hermitage Museum’s collection of Scythian treasures, while the Russian museum will exhibit a marble statue of an Archaic Kore, lent by the Acropolis Museum.

The Acropolis Museum will inaugurate the exchange on March 11, 2016 during a precursor exhibition presenting exhibits from the Hermitage Museum as part of the cultural program titled 'Year of Russia in Greece.'

Originally posted on: GreekReporter

Despite uncertainty in the outbound holiday market in Europe and the ongoing publicity of the refugee crisis, Athens has not lost ground as a leisure tourism and city break destination, according to the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB).

“It’s business as usual for Athens at ITB”, the convention bureau’s press officer, George Angelis, told the Greek Travel Pages (GTP) on the sidelines of the trade show in Berlin. “We have not seen or heard anything that should cause some concern. On the contrary, we see that there is currently a healthy demand for Athens, particularly in for city break and leisure tourism”, he said.

The Greek capital was represented once again at ITB (the world's leading travel trade show) which took place in Berlin from March 9-13, 2016.

To read more please visit: GreekTravelPages

Now that the weather is getting warmer, what better way to explore the city's beautiful neighbourhoods and the historical center of Athens than by bike!

And if you don't own a bike, not to worry! The City of Athens has officially launched a pilot project, like so many other European capitals, for its own bike sharing service. The bicycles will be initially available at Technopolis in Gazi and the service has been available to the public since Thursday March 3rd, 2016.

AthensBikes, as the initiative is called, is a service that offers locals and visitors the opportunity to rent a bicycle in Athens for a small fee. For more information visit their website (in English) here.

 

Source: iefimerida

Those interested in renting out their properties, homes or flats in Greece on Airbnb must meet the following requirements as set out by the economy, finance and tourism ministries.

According to a recent government decision effective November 1, 2015, interested parties can lease properties that meet the standards of self-catering accommodation (furnished villas and rooms/apartments) subject to the provisions in article 46 of law 4179/2013 (A ‘175), without possessing the special accommodation sticker and with no set duration. Previously, in order to lease accommodation for less than 30 days, the special sticker was required.

Additionally, should owners of any of the above accommodation types provide services (cleaning, catering, protection) these will be taxed accordingly as income and be subject to the applicable laws as laid out by the finance ministry.

According to the current tax system, income from renting properties is taxed according to the following scale: for income less/equal than 12,000 euros, the tax rate is 11 percent, while for income over 12,000 euros, the rate is 33 percent. These rates may change once new tax legislation is voted in parliament.

Owners wishing to engage in business activity and lease their property solely as a tourist accommodation [Article 1 of Law 4276/2014 (A 155)], must obtain legal authorization by local licensing and supervisory boards and obtain the special operations sticker. Different tax rules apply to properties registered as “tourist accommodation.”

Source: Greek Travel Pages

The national May Day Holiday (or Protomagia in Greek) celebrated on May 1st 2016 will be moved to Tuesday May 3rd 2016 due to it coinciding with Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday.

This was a decision authorized and signed by Labour Minister George Katrougalos.

What the law says about working on this day:*
Business operation and employing employees is prohibited, except those who are legal to operate on Sundays and public holidays, such as companies in the health sector, tourism, transportation, food & beverage, factories with continuous hours, etc.

Employees who are paid by a wage, but who will not work on the May Day public holiday are entitled to receive their paid wages without any deduction. For employees paid by wage who will work on May 1, they are entitled to receive their wage with an increase of 75% which will be calculated at the statutory hourly rate for any hours worked.

If you are paid a monthly salary, and the company typically does operate on Sundays and public holidays then you are entitled to receive an increase of 75% calculated at the statutory hourly rate for any hours worked on this day. If you are employed with a company that typically does not work on Sundays and public holidays then you are entitled to receive an increase of 75% calculated at the statutory hourly rate for any hours worked on this day.

Source: Paidorama

* Please note, the information outlined is based on a report that has been translated from Greek and should be confirmed with your employer and local employment offices.

The government has decided to extend its vehicle-scrapping initiative until May 20, in which it subsidizes the purchase of new cars so that old vehicles are taken off the road; although the subsidy will be cut by 50 percent from last year.

The measure will be brought to parliament and once signed by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, it will apply retroactively from January 1. This will bring great relief to the thousands of prospective buyers who have the necessary scrapping documents, but were unable to proceed with their new purchase.

To read more, please visit: eKathimerini

The summer schedule has officially begun for Greece's museums and archaeological sites, which means new hours. Starting April 1, the summer hours will be from 8:00 to 20:00. 

In addition to the new hours, the Greek Ministry of Culture has announced a series of ticket price hikes for sites and museums including the Athens Acropolis, where general admission has now risen to 20 euros (from 12 euros), the Knossos archaeological site on Crete, where entrance now costs 15 euros (from 6 euros), the Sounio archaeological site, with tickets costing 8 euros (previously 4 euros), and the Epidaurus site and museum, which now cost 12 euros to visit (from 6 euros). 

Authorities have also announced that the cloakroom at the Athens Acropolis will not be operating for security reasons for the time being, but visitors can enter the site with a small backpack or handbag.

For more information, please visit: eKathimerini.