Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-07-15

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Gov't agrees to present solution on private debt in Greece by Aug. 15

[02] Santorini voted "World's Top Island for 2014"

[01] Gov't agrees to present solution on private debt in Greece by Aug. 15

The meeting was attended by ministers, representatives of the Bank of Greece and the Hellenic Bank Association and representatives of the troika of Greece's lenders. It reached an agreement that the development ministry will present proposals by August 15 for the out-of-court settlement of private-sector debts, initially for businesses and then for individuals.

"The government's intention is to create a system of private debt management that will help the economy emerge from the crisis but will not allow welshers to laugh at the expense of honest people," a top development ministry official said after the meeting. Replying to reporters' questions on whether the troika is willing to accept the measures planned by the government, he noted that "no one wants to destroy the market".

The same source said that the out-of-court settlement mechanism that will be created by the development ministry will have a specific time frame.

Also presented during Tuesday's meeting was a KPMG report on private debt, a report by the Judicial Studies Society on the speed of administering justice and a Hellenic Banking Association report on the information held by Tiresias, the Greek IT system for credit-related data.

A ministry official noted that bankruptcy law is currently an extremely long-drawn-out process, with 52 pct of cases under the Katselis law getting a trial date five years after the application was filed and 20 pct being tried after 10 years.

The council on private debt - attended by the ministers of finance, development, labour and justice - was among a series of meetings with the troika scheduled to hold on Tuesday, starting off with one at 11:00 with the national coordinator for the fight against corruption Ioannis Tentes.

There will follow meetings with Interior Minister Argyris Dinopoulos at 14:00, Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis at 15:00 and Labour and Social Insurance Minister Yiannis Vroutsis at 16:00.

There may also be a meeting at 18:00 with Rural Development Minister George Karamanis, while teams representing the troika of lenders will also visit the independent statistical authority ELSTAT.

[02] Santorini voted "World's Top Island for 2014"

T+L readers voted Santorini as their favorable island in the world, while Crete and Mykonos took the third and fifth place respectively among European islands. In last year's poll, Santorini took the fourth place, while Crete maintained the same ranking.

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