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Netherlands and Luxembourg are today the two largest direct foreign investors in Greece. Eldorado Gold wants to know this month wether that means it can mine for gold or not.Īmsterdam mailbox X wins from Greek treasury Syriza no longer speaks so radically against the gold mines as before the elections, but it insists that laws should be applied. The latter treaty guarantees public participation in decision-making processes that affect the environment on a large scale. Greece is just doing whatever the IMF demands from the country in a memorandum signed by both parties in 2013: ‘In order to facilitate investments, we will approve laws by the end of 2013 which will greatly streamline the system of licenses and permits for investment (around operational, environment, land use, and public infrastructure), by reducing their number.’Īfter the arrival of the Syriza government in January 2015, EU legislation around making an EIA, the European Water Directive and the Aarhus Convention regained some importance. Therefore, no final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) seems required for this open gold mine. IIG will ensure among other things that the Canadian company Eldorado Gold can obtain an export loan and tax breaks for mining investments in Greece, but also that their Perama Hill gold mine can enjoy a fast-track procedure.
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For these reasons, an “Invest in Greece” (IIG) agency was established. The IMF wants to attract foreign investment. The European Commission wants to improve the business climate. The loans that Greece gets are subject to conditions. To the contrary: the crisis is created to have the gold rush. As it turns out, the gold rush is not the way out of the crisis. The Greek gold rush is a reminder of the fact that the PanamaPapers are just the tip of an iceberg. Under one they encourage tax evasion, under the other they demand Greece to get its finances in order. The creditors of Greece think so, but some European policymakers appear to have two hats. Can a Greek gold rush create jobs and get the country out of the doldrums? Yet hospitals close, TB and malaria come back, malnutrition spreads, pensions halved, wages fell by a quarter and there is no work for half of the youth. Greece is rich, if you just add up the billions which the gold in Greek soil is worth.