The proposal of the Greek Piraeus Bank to buy a large deal of shares of the state ATEbank (Agricultural) and Postbank caused a series of reactions. Employees of the two financial companies for sale proved to be the most active. They organized a 24-hour protest against the implementation of the deal and blocked the streets. The main arguments against the sale of the state banks, however, are not the expected problems of employees related with the salaries or job retention. Validity of the deal and the volatile political position of the governing party PASOK concerning the state role in the banking market in Greece are under question.
For the readers of GRReporter the President of the Union of Agricultural Bank employees Costas Amudzinas outlined the main issues in the proposed purchase of the two state banks from the private Piraeus, that worry the bank employees. The first and main problem he noted is that under the existing legal system the government should follow specific procedures for the privatization of any government entity. “It is improper anybody to go to the Ministry of Finance and state he wants to purchase a package of public companies without prior notice and invitation,” said Costas Amudzinas. The state should evaluate the facility’s assets for privatization through an international agency for evaluation. Then follows a public auction in order the government to be able to choose the best offer.”
Another problem, according to the bank employee, is the price Piraeus Bank offers to buy 77.31 percent of the assets of the Agricultural Bank. “Currently, the management of Piraeus offers to buy ATEbank for about € 380 million. Our initial calculations show that only the total value of the real estates that it will gain after the sale, however, exceeds € 500 million,” said the specialist. He emphasized that the offer is extremely unfavourable and in no way serves the public interest. In a period of crisis there is a general drop in turnover in the country and largely the prices of goods, services, including companies are very low. At the same time, the two state companies are not in a financial impasse unlike other private enterprises. So, there is no particular reason to become private.”
On the other hand, the more likely move the banking community had expected after the outbreak of the crisis was the merger of the two state banks (Agricultural and Postbank). This step is consistent with the recent propagation policy of the government of George Papandreou, who in the election and post-election statements supported the idea of keeping the state presence in the banking market, explains Amudzinas. This leads us to the third issue of the proposed deal. It completely opposes the political promises of PASOK, which, unfortunately, is not something new for todays’s government.
Meanwhile, only one day after the announcement of the proposal, there were a series of meetings between the main characters in another Greek drama, this time in the banking sector. First, the two executive directors of Bank of Greece Georgios Provopolos and Agricultural Bank Teodoris Panelakis met with the Financial Minister George Papakonstantinou. The head of the Agricultural Bank reported in short the activity of the Bank in his charge. The Minister discussed with George Provopolos the key technical issues relating to the procedures for the merger of the three companies. Government representatives have not yet taken a position on the matter and Papakonstantinou himself said all options should be examined before taking a particular decision.
The position of the Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping Louka Katseli remains neutral so far. She also was at a meeting with bank officials of Postbank. In a letter to the mass media the Minister of Economy Katseli stated that all issues associated with the privatization of both financial institutions will be considered and ensured that whatever the decision, it will be in favour of the Greek society.
Greek mass media called the proposal for the two banks purchase “scandalous” and “ bomb news”, which caused negative reactions in the country in general. Employees of Postbank blocked in the morning the entrances to the headquarters on Pesmazoglu street, near the Omonya Square. Entrances were decorated with black flags and symbolically sealed with gray scotch tapes. “No! to the sale of banks”, “Postbank is not only numbers, but people”, “We want Postbank with state share and publicly and socially conscious” were part of the slogans hung on the facade of the headquarters of the bank. Above them, somewhat derisively, was hanging the huge in size advertising slogan of the bank “We change our face”, which is in effect after changing the marketing strategy at the beginning of the year.
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