Huffington Post, in an article under the title: ‘Meet The Mayors From Around The World Transforming Their Cities’, makes special reference to the Mayor of the Greek northern port city of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris.
Huffington Post places Boutaris among the 8 most successful mayors in the world, as he appears on the list with names such as the mayors of Berlin in Germany, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Surabaya in Indonesia, Calgary in Canada, the first female mayor of Paris in France, the mayor of Bogota in Colombia and the mayor of Texas in the USA.
“While Greece has stumbled from crisis to crisis in recent years, many have said that if there is one glimmer of hope in the Hellenic nation, it’s in the form of Yiannis Boutaris, the mayor of the northern coastal city of Thessaloniki. Boutaris might not look like a traditional politician — he has street-bought bracelets, a diamond-studded earring and a gecko tattoo — but he has tackled daunting challenges with the audacity of an experienced policymaker. Despite inheriting a deficit of €100 million ($135.69 million) when he took office in early 2011, Boutaris balanced the city’s budget, revived tourism and took on widespread corruption. If Boutaris continues on this route, he might just be able to restore Thessaloniki to the thriving Byzantine city it once was and inspire the rest of Greece in the process.”, Huffington Post writes.
Boutaris is a Greek businessman, politician and current mayor of Thessaloniki. In 2012 he was chosen as ‘the best mayor in the world’ for the month of October, by the City Mayors Foundation, based in the UK. He is the founder of KIR-YIANNI wine company, based in Giannakochori and Amyntaio in Northern Greece. He is one of the founding members of the Drasi party and Arcturos ecological organizations.
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