An unnamed company became the first entity in Greece to settle its debts to the state and restructure through an extra-judicial mechanism, Ministry of Finance sources said on Friday.
The case concerned a bilateral negotiation for debts to the national health insurance fund (EFKA) that had been turned over to the relevant state agency for collection (KEAO). The company owed less than 50,000 euros to EFKA. Through negotiation, it reduced the fines and penalties by 85%, with the balance to be paid in 120 installments.
During the first 15 weeks the mechanism platform has been available, 12,748 interested parties have signed up throughout Greece. Of these, 8,729 have begun the extra-judicial debt settlement process, while 299 have completed the process.
According to ministry sources, the cases break down roughly into the following:
– 75% are individuals (households and freelance workers), 20% are representatives of very small enterprises, and 5% are representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises.
– Of those signing up, 60% have debts to banks only, 35% owe both banks and the state (taxes and insurance payments), and 5% have outstanding debts to the state only.
The platform also provides answers to questions over debts, explains to individuals options they may not have known existed, and helps low-income individuals free of charge.
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