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The negotiations on the third rescue programme for Greece began with the visit of creditors’ technical teams to the Court of Audit. Yesterday they held their first meetings with government members as well.

According to the German Press Agency MNI, the delegates of creditors are ordered to complete the negotiations by 10 August. The sources of the Financial Times however do not exclude the possibility that they will continue after August 20 with a parallel granting of a second bridge loan of 5 billion euro.

A senior representative of the Greek Ministry of Finance admitted yesterday that some of the creditors insisted on voting a third package of budgetary measures and reforms in parliament. The government in Athens, however, had firmly rejected this possibility. "We have replied that we will implement the agreement reached at the Eurogroup and the EU summit, which does not provide for a third package," he said.

In all cases, the European Commission states it expects the Greek parliament to vote on more reforms to make possible the granting of the first tranche of financial aid from the new rescue programme. In statements to reporters in Brussels, European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva has not specified what exactly these reforms are but referred to the message issued after the summit. Therefore, this implies the pension system reform and the suspension of early retirement in particular, the Greek media comment.

Meanwhile, asked whether there would be meetings between ministers and the heads of creditor representatives, a senior official from the Ministry of Finance replied that "there could be such later, if necessary."

Another leading government official said that "talks will be held at the hotels where creditor representatives will stay." They have already been accommodated in a central Athens hotel under strict security measures.

Yesterday Mina Andreeva said that the teams would involve the heads of missions, who would arrive in Athens in the middle of the week.

Andreeva’s reply to the specifying question as to whether a representative of the International Monetary Fund Delia Velculescu would be among them has made clear that only the representatives of the European institutions have arrived in Athens, adding that information from the International Monetary Fund should be sought for more details.

For its part, the International Monetary Fund is adamant it will not accept any concessions in terms of the reforms in labour laws, which have been voted on over the past years. The report by the International Monetary Fund, which was released yesterday, indicates the lack of progress in their implementation and the pursuit of the current government to cancel the recently introduced changes such as the increase in the minimum wage, concessions on collective agreements and more. This actually means that in the negotiations the International Monetary Fund will be adamant on measures such as mass layoffs. It urges the euro zone to look out because the agreement of 12 July could have reduced the danger of Grexit but the risk is still high, in view of the subsequent actions.