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The Greek national debt has decreased by 2.3 million euro thanks to a donation endowed ​​by the non-profit organization Greece Debt Free. An announcement of the Ministry of Finance reads that the state has accepted the donated government bonds that the organization had bought and subsequently cancelled.

The nominal value of the cancelled debt is 230,000 euro. Last year, on 17 September, the same organization cancelled other bonds with a nominal value of 2 million euro. Thus, the total amount of the donation is 2.3 million euro.

"On behalf of the Government, the Deputy Minister of Finance expresses gratitude to the non-profit organization Greece Debt Free for the highly symbolic initiative that it has repeated," reads the statement of the Ministry.

According to the information on the website of Greece Debt Free, it involves two organizations united in one movement. Greece Debt Free Inc. is a tax-exempt American non-profit organization (501(c)(3) and Greece Debt Free is Greek. Both aim to motivate individuals and companies to commit to reduce the Greek national debt.

Greece Debt Free accepts donations from individuals and companies with which it buys Greek government bonds at the lowest possible prices on the secondary market of securities and then subsequently cancels them before the maturity date. In the case of interest payments, the organization uses them to buy a larger number of bonds, thus helping reduce the debt to sustainable levels.

Every Greek or citizen of another country can join the initiative. The organization provides them with the opportunity to indirectly reach the securities market and to take advantage of the current reduction in bond transactions in order to help reduce the inflated Greek debt.

Greece Debt Free is supported by eight companies with different scopes of activity, including three companies operating in the field of technology, two law firms, two PR companies and individuals from five nationalities who live in four countries. The organization has the support of more than 70 volunteers.

The main supporter of the project on the Greek side is Olympiacos football club and its boss Vangelis Marinakis. They have donated to Greece Debt Free bonds with a nominal value of 24,800 euro for each of the 55 team players and employees. The total value of their donation exceeds the amount of 1,364,000 euro.

The office of famous Greek lawyer Alexandros Likourezos is also one of the supporters of the organization. Its support is the provision of free legal services.

Other companies support the initiative by putting the sign of Greece Debt Free on the labels of their products thus promoting it among customers.

According to the information on the website of the organization so far it has bought Greek government bonds worth 3.1 million euro.