NBG Distributes 3.0 Billion Euros into Economy
National Bank of Greece Chief Executive Alexandros Tourkolias stated that the Hellenic shipping industry is flourishing, during a Posidonia 2014 dinner attended by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, government Vice-President Evangelos Venizelos, Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras and Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis.
As reported by ANA-MPA, the financial expert commented, "Greek shipping suffered less losses than any other shipping power in the last few years because it had avoided excesses and faced the crisis as an opportunity. It achieved a significant renewal of its fleet, rising in size and focusing on expertise, maintaining the top position in tankers and a significant position in cargo vessels".
Tourkolias claimed that Greek shipping was the leading nation in Europe and an international key player. He added, "This means that Greek shipping not only should have a say, but support also in order to play a strong role in setting, European and even international maritime policy. We must avoid mistakes made in the past which pushed a number of business activities related with shipping, such as shipbuilding, outside Europe with obvious negative consequences".
The National Bank Chief Executive further stated, "Recent successful share capital increase plans, with the help of your participation, laid the foundation to put National Bank among the most robust financial groups in the Eurozone, integrating even the most strict principles of Basel III. Private investors' participation in the bank's equity capital jumped to 43 pct from 16 pct, while seven foreign investors held an 1.0 pct equity stake each in the bank...National Bank is in a position to play the role it deserved in the Greek economy, distributing 3.0 billion euros in the Greek market this year".
