Greek Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis accused Eldorado Gold of staging a “political show” and of “blackmail”, saying the company’s CEO must understand that “Greece is a modern European democracy”.
Speaking to SKAI radio on Wednesday, Skourletis stressed that the government wanted the investment in Chalkidiki, but with the preconditions envisaged by the Greek law, adding that the company was not submitting any proposals, but it was sending “blackmail ultimatums” to the Greek government.
The Greek minister did not exclude the possibility of renegotiating the contract from zero, adding that he could not dismiss the possibility that the company was seeking to withdraw from the investment due to a decline in international gold prices. He stressed that Hellenic Gold has not paid one single euro in taxes since 2007 and dismissed Eldorado Gold’s claim of delays in issuing mining licenses.
Skourletis said there are serious environmental issues that still need to be addressed.
(source: ana-mpa)
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