More than 70 companies have applied for inclusion in an online platform for an out-of-court debt settlement mechanism in the first few hours after the official launch of the platform, according to the first data from the platform's operation, which was launched on Thursday by Economy Minister Dimitris Papadimitriou.

A draft bill establishing an out-of-court debt settlement mechanism for businesses was posted on the government's opengov website (http://www.opengov.gr/ypoian/?p=8036) on Tuesday, for a 10-day period of public consultation between now and 14:00 on March 3.

Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis in an interview with the Athens - Macedonian News Agency on Sunday announced a series of actions to boost entrepreneurship in Greece, attracting new investments and completing the institutional framework for the settlement of bad business loans as well as the debts of entrepreneurs and self-employed in the public and social security funds.