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Today's talks between the representatives of the creditor institutions and the Greek Minister of Finance, Efklidis Tsakalotos, and Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis will largely determine whether it is possible to conclude the agreement for a third bailout by 18 August or if a new bridging loan will be necessary.

The two main obstacles in these negotiations are the recapitalization of banks and the new privatisation fund. According to government sources, the discussions on issues so critical for the cabinet will show whether, and how far, it is possible to stick to the timeframe it has agreed on with the creditors. According to the timeframe, an agreement should be thrashed out by 11-12 August, budgetary measures and reforms should go through parliament by 18 August, and the first tranche of the new European loan should be wired on August 20, when Athens will need the cash to pay out its dues on the government bonds held by the European Central Bank.

Sources from the creditor institutions point out that all options are open, including a new bridging loan. But they make no secret of the fact that despite the good music of the negotiations, there are still a number of contentious issues where agreement has yet to be reached.

One of them is the state budget. Until yesterday, the 2015 primary deficit estimates stood somewhere between 1% of GDP and a balanced budget. The outstanding issues will be discussed at today's meeting of ministers Tsakalotos and Stathakis with creditor institutions' leading figures: Delia Velculescu (International Monetary Fund), Declan Costello (European Commission), Rasmus Refer (European Central Bank) and Nicola Giammarioli (European Stability Mechanism).

The Greek government attaches great importance to the new privatisation fund, which will have to ensure €50 billion worth of revenues over a period of 30 years. According to sources, Finance Minister Efklidis Tsakalotos aims to achieve a continuous stream of revenue, rather than one-off sales of state property.

The privatisation model the government is striving to adopt is presented by a cabinet member to the economic website euro2day.gr in the following way: "Take for example the railways. If we privatise the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE), which is pretty likely, it is our desire that each container carried by the future trains in Greece fetch, let's say, half a euro to the state."

According to the same official, the 50 eurocents will be distributed as follows: 50% will go to the repayment of loans raised for bank recapitalization, 25% for investments and the remaining 25% - for sovereign debt repayment. Clearly, some time will be required to sort out all the details of the new privatisation model, says the publication.

As far as bank recapitalisation is concerned, reports say that both Athens and its creditors are of the opinion that it should be carried out by the Financial Stability Fund in line with a stringent timetable by the year-end to ward off the activation of the European 'bail in' directive.

Sources say that a scenario was considered for direct lending to banks by the European Financial Stability Facility. However, it was rejected because it could not rule out cuts in bank deposits even before the directive is set off.

All discussions held with creditors' representatives indicate quite clearly that none of the sides in the negotiations are willing to allow even minimal cuts of deposits in Greek banks. The reason is not their desire to pamper Greek depositors and companies, but the fear that such a haircut might trigger a bank run across the other European countries suffering budget issues, says euro2day.gr.